Set in Stone
by psyche001
Summary: From within the night's secret shadows,a beautiful winged creature falls for a human girl.She is forbidden fruit in his world but still,he crosses the line to save her life.What happens when their worlds collide & she discovers his horrible fate? AU/M/BXE
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Edward**

**December 14, 1808 : 200 years prior**

**Cornwall, Britain**

The knock on the door was urgent and uncharacteristic for that time of night. I raised tired eyes from the writings of His Grace Pius VII and observed the door over the rims of my spectacles. There it was again, the knock that I was sure would wake the entire floor of the seminary and have me reprimanded in the morning for not getting to it with more haste. I stood with my lantern in hand and made my way through the darkness of my small room, holding my robe to me. I was certain that only an emergency would bring someone to the door of a seminarian at 22 hundred hours.

"I'm coming," I said as I unlatched the hinge and opened the door.

"Brother Masen," said the young servant boy. I think his name was Henri. He was French and his English, though not bad, was heavily accented. He liked practicing his English on me and I encouraged him. "I em terrible sorri for disterbi you at night, but thees letter came for you and eet says ergent, life or death."

"Tell me your name again."

"Henri," he even did a little curtsy.

"Do not bow to me Henri, but you can tell me who sent the letter."

"Eet vas a young voman, and she vas veddy particular zat you get eet immediately and zat it please remain anonyme."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Secret?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Tres bien Henri, very good."

I frowned and took the creased letter from his hand. He looked not much younger than I, in his teens, and terribly apologetic and polite. I held the letter up to the lantern and started to read it right there in front of him. After the first few words I realized who it was from, so I stuck my head out into the dark corridor, held my lantern up and looked both up and down.

"Henri," I said. "Does anyone else know that this letter arrived for me tonight?"

"No, Brother Masen," he said. "It vas only me on zee foyear."

"Foyer."

"Oui."

"Merci Henri," I said. "Bonne Nuit."

He did another half bow and I closed the door. As quickly as my feet could move, I took the letter to my desk and added more kerosene to my lantern. The blaze grew with a soft, licking sound and the shadows it cast on the wall at my left were ghastly.

'_Meus diligo, My love, My Edward,_

_It is with the heaviest of hearts that I write this to you, for no reason other than the fact that my love and loss has driven me to the deepest despair. I have received word of your ordination and while I will not contest your reasons for keeping it from me, you must have known that I would find out sooner rather than later. There is nothing I live for other than news of you. My days are consumed and my nights, though lonely__,__ are filled only with longing for you…'_

I dropped my head and held on to the edge of the table with brittle force as the pain in her words tore at my insides. With an unwilling breath but with a charged heart, I held the page up to the flame again and read on.

'…_.In two days you will have achieved something that will forever confuse and cause me unrelenting pain. You will receive your robes and your mighty cross and you will bow to your elders at the altar__to __receive the ordination __which__ will finally separate us forever. And I will remain as I am now, without a proper explanation from my love about his choice, or some enlightenment as to the grave mistake I have apparently made that caused you to turn away from me so abruptly when you did. I have had four years to condition myself to your decision and to teach myself to come to terms with it and to life without you in it__.__B__ut alas, I have failed myself because now more than ever before, I am convinced that I can do nothing but love you Edward. I have written hundreds of unanswered letters to you and even though you do not reply, I know you are there and I know that you read and somehow I know that you hurt as well. _

_After all this time I am in no less in pain, no less confused__,__ and no more inclined to close my heart off to you. The only thing I can do is accept it because I cannot change it and I cannot change your heart. If this will make you happy, I will cease my letters and try my very best not to hate the God that has taken you away from me. However, I shall ask one final thing of you before you are lost to me for__ever.__ If any part of what we have shared during our time together was real, if any spoken word of love from your lips was true, I ask of you now for the very last time, to come to me. Visit with me before the hour of your ordination and set my heart to rest. For the sake of my dying heart, allow my eyes the vision of your face one last time__,__ because surely I can never set foot into your church and listen as you worship him who has seduced and won you. _

_I shall never see you again Edward__,__ because I won't allow it, so please answer my call and come to me. I shall wait for you every hour until that day__,__ and if the day comes and goes and I do not see you, take this as my farewell and best wishes for you__. K__now that my love shall never die, though I might, just from the sheer weight of it._

_Me paenitet, sed fieri sentio et excrucior._

_Te Amo,_

_Tanya._

I dropped the letter on my table and stared at the burning flame in my lantern unseeingly for minutes on end. That fateful night four years prior slammed back into brutal focus and forced me to relive what by then I could only have referred to as fate.

Four years prior to that night, I was a final year Theology and Latin major at the university, a 20 year old Englishman from Cornwall, Britain, engaged to be married to Tanya Denali. Tanya was Italian and she and her family moved to Cornwall so that her father could accept the position of Latin professor at the university. He was my lecturer. He liked me.

Tanya and I were in love, we were happy, and she was hell bent on having babies the moment I took her across the threshold. It was no secret that Tanya was unlike the rest of her sisters who were openly involved in sexual relationships with men who were not their husbands. Tanya and I were resolute about saving ourselves for each other, and wanted our first time together to be our wedding night. Truth be told, it didn't matter to me whether we did it inside or outside of marriage, though I wanted my first time to be with her. It was probably the very thing that quickened the rate at which I got the ring on her finger. I would have happily deflowered her had she let me, but despite the lifestyle of her other sisters, it seemed drastically important to her that she wait until marriage. Tanya was known to be a crafty and devilish little vixen when she wanted to be, and though I worried on occasion that it was a trick of hers to get me to propose, I loved her and rather liked the idea of making her my wife.

However, I never predicted what happened just two weeks shy of our wedding day. The series of events that occurred during that unforgettable four day stint changed my life, or should I say existence, forever…..

The winter was a terrible one. It was worse than we expected and it snowed like the earth was trying to freeze over the entryway to hell. The Cholera was widespread and had taken the town by surprise, and when Tanya suddenly fell ill with the dreadful illness, I was left like a fish out of water, snowed in with her at her mother's cottage with no way to get a message to the town doctor. At that time in Britain, the only means of communication was a telegram or the post, and though there were rumors of electricity inventions, rural areas like Cornwall were last in line to receive it.

Already there were twelve deaths in town within the past two days from the Cholera, and when it hit the Denali household, there was mass pandemonium and panic. Of course they all locked themselves away in their rooms, wailing and sobbing and Tanya was left on the sitting room sofa with me and her mother to look after her.

By her third day into it and because of the dreadful weather, things were looking grim. Already her mother was crying and making the sign of the cross repeatedly across her torso like a tortured soul. And the distant screams that could be heard from neighbouring households every few hours as the disease continued to claim lives around us did not ease our tension any. Everyone in the town had been trapped indoors for days on end because of the intermittent storm. Because medicine was scarce to none, and with no way of getting to the doctor through the weather, anyone who contracted the virus during that time was considered dead before it even had time to run its course.

Tanya was in and out of consciousness. Her skin was flushed and sweaty, she could barely speak above a whisper because she was so weak, couldn't keep food or drink down and she had a nasty fever. For safe measure we kept a handkerchief loosely tied over her mouth and nose in the hope that we ourselves would be spared.

"We need to get her to the doctor," I said to her mother, starting to fear the worst myself.

"It's impossible!" Her mother wailed. "We can't get out and his residence isn't for another three streets."

She got up and lifted her heavy frock off the floor with her hands as she made her way to a long window and peered outside.

"I've been trying to get the attention of the neighbours all week, but no one is at their window and the street is abandoned in this weather. How in heaven's name will we get the message to Dr. Whitaker that he needs to make a house call?"

I paced the floor with a hand on one hip and the other clasped under my chin, frowning at my feet as I walked. The idea seemed preposterous but it was the only solution to a degenerating situation that needed immediate attention.

"I will take her myself," I said and turned to face the woman who was wringing her hands nervously against her apron.

"What in heaven's name!" She exclaimed with wide eyes. "Edward! It's almost nightfall and the roads are completely covered with snow! The storm! Our horse is no good either. You know his hind limb is wounded. You'll never make it on foot! You'll freeze to death! You and her both!"

"Wrap her with as many blankets as you can find and I will carry her," I said seriously. "There is no alternative. She gets worse by the minute and the night will not be kind."

I made my way over to Tanya then and looked at her frail figure on the sofa.

"Hurry up Sasha," I said as Tanya's eyes started to roll into the back of her head. "Before the storm starts up again."

"Oh my sweet Jesus," the woman uttered as she ran hastily up the stairs in a fluster. "I have to fetch her father!"

"Sasha!" I demanded, and she stopped promptly on the stairs and turned to me in surprise.

"Do you want Tanya to get help?" I asked in a deep voice.

"Of course I do!"

"Then keep it between us. Let the old man sleep. If he knows about this, he won't allow it because he will think it is too dangerous, but Tanya needs to be taken to the doctor. She doesn't look good and I fear that…." I sighed and looked at Tanya again. "I fear that she won't make it through the night."

When I looked up at Sasha again, her chin was quivering and her eyes were wild with fright. She nodded briskly then disappeared upstairs in search of warm blankets. Fifteen minutes later we had Tanya cloaked and wrapped in a thick, tight bundle with only her face left out so that she could breathe. I myself was loaned a second coat and ordered to wear a hat. I detested hats, even in the winter, and I was usually frowned upon by stately gentlemen for refusing to wear any. However, I made an exception that night because of the blistering storm. It was difficult to hold her when she was wrapped like that but I had no choice but to get comfortable with it somehow, because I would have to carry her for a few blocks through dark streets, lit only by the ember of candlelight in the windows of cottages as I passed.

We opened the front door and thank goodness for the two steps down to the yard that elevated the front door partially, or else opening it all would have been near impossible. I held her to my chest firmly and sunk my legs into the snow that came up to my calves. Every footstep took enormous effort but because I was determined to get help, I pushed through the snow in the yard until I got out to higher ground by the roadside. Sasha waved us off worriedly with Kate and Irina at her sides, then hurried back inside after making the sign of the cross for the umpteenth time.

I tried to ignore the biting wetness that clung to my skin through my trousers and seeped in through my shoes, while hurrying as fast as I could with my lifeless fiancé in my arms.

The streets were already cloaked in darkness due to the raging storm. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to push against the blistering wind that seemed determined to push me backward, as if trying to warn me to turn back because of impending danger ahead.

I'd always felt like the night knew things that the day didn't. I was educated enough to know that there was a succinct reason for why things were the way they were, namely, the natural occurrence of light hours and dark. There was a reason people are awake during the day and stayed indoors at night, and never the other way around. Usually I was no fool to try and challenge what was. I accepted what I needed to, asked no questions and paid heed to the warnings given by governmental authorities regarding the increase in crime and took their curfews seriously.

News and experiences of others had always proven that no good came to those who idled about during the dark hours and insisted on flirting with danger. And that night spared no mercy in showing me exactly how and why that happened.

Ever since the first street I had the distinct feeling that we were being followed, though every time I turned around there was nothing but black shadows behind me and the faint ember of light in the cottage windows. I pressed on, as fast as I could manage considering the weight in my arms, the lacerations that were starting to open on the skin of my feet and the howling wind that slapped against my face with brute force.

"A little help, please," I said to the dark skies above through clenched teeth. Just then a swooshing noise sounded overhead but again, when I looked, there was nothing to see. I convinced myself that it was only the wind and that I was way too old to be discouraged by the darkness. I looked down at Tanya's face. Her eyes were closed and I could hardly tell anymore whether she was breathing or not. She looked frozen and stiff to me, though her cheeks were still a bit flushed from the fever. I made it to the corner and turned rightward, careful with my footing because dropping Tanya on the slippery ground would have surely killed her if the Cholera didn't.

It started to snow again and I bit down on my jaw harder, willing myself to get indoors before the wrath of the storm caught me on the road with my sick fiancé in tow. Just up ahead, the dark outline of a man started coming into focus. He was still and leaning against a wall to a bakery. I wondered what he was doing there, alone and in that kind of weather and even though the look of his silhouette alarmed me, I kept my head up and stared straight ahead, seeking comfort in the sound of my crunching footsteps. I passed him and said 'Good night,' and all he did was nod, but sure enough, a few paces after passing him I heard his footsteps fall in stride behind me.

I dared not look around just to make sure, and I dared not close my eyes and try to imagine it was not happening, lest I stumbled and dropped Tanya. Instead I quickened my footsteps and came to another corner without stopping to see if there were any horses or carriages coming across. There was no traffic to speak of that night because everyone was indoors where they should have been, hiding from the storm and wrapped in swaddling blankets at their fireplaces, drinking hot tea or cocoa with their horses secured in their stables; everyone except Tanya and I and the mysterious stranger behind us.

I started regretting my decision to brave the night to get to the doctor. I put Tanya in immediate danger by taking her into the streets after nightfall and even though it was still very early, the streets were abandoned and too quiet to be comforting. The footsteps behind got nearer, of course, because he wasn't carrying a 130 lb blond who seemed 10 lbs heavier since I had started walking.

Suddenly there was something cold against the back of my neck and I halted with a held breath, wishing that I could rest Tanya down somewhere so that I could turn around and sock the sodding fool in his mouth. The cold thing felt like a blade which he had very skillfully managed to get under my hair and inside the collars of my two coats.

"What do you want?" I bit out.

"I want you to give me the girl," the man growled next to my ear.

What?

"The young lady?"

"Yes, the girl."

"You wouldn't prefer money? Or jewe…."

"Give me the _pissing_ girl."

"Oh, a potty mouth," I grumbled as I let out a harsh breath and shifted Tanya's weight in my arms. The only idea that came to me was to distract him until I could figure out how to get out of the trouble I was in….the trouble _she_ was in for that matter, because he was obviously an opportunistic rapist who had found an easy target.

"Have you been acquainted with the young lady, sir?" I asked. He pressed the blade deeper against my neck and I felt it start to puncture.

"No, but I'm about to. Surrender her or I shall carve you up, _nice_ and proper."

"It's not a good idea for you to take the young lady, Mr…..er….you see, she has the Cholera and she's terribly ill. She's also my fiancé and I'm only now taking her to the doctor. I hardly think you wish to be in the company of infected…."

He slid the blade against my neck right at the edge of my hairline and I screamed out from the sting, slipped and almost dropped Tanya. I stumbled forward and somehow managed to whip my body around so that I fell on my back with Tanya against my chest. She never even budged or reacted from the fall. Just as the man grabbed her and tried to lift her off of me, something large and black swooped down from above, snatched him and disappeared with him above the rooftops.

"Jesus Christ!" I screamed in terror as I clutched Tanya to me and slid backward into a shadowed corner. With wild and panicked eyes I searched my immediate surroundings from where I sat, particularly the sky, and started chanting a string line of prayers to the various archangels, beseeching their protection from what I could only assume was a beastly creature of the night. I didn't even get a look at it. It was too dark and it was way too fast and unexpected for my eyes to follow.

My ass went numb and the freezing dampness started to gnaw at my bones. I needed to get up, I needed to run. I needed to hide or get indoors somewhere, away and out of sight with Tanya because as sure as I knew my name was Edward, I was sure that that creature was still out there….quiet….listening…..watching, waiting for my next move.

I tried to get up at least three times, but her weight was too much to manage with sore limbs and a slippery floor. And because I dared not drop her, I held her tight and bent her face into my chest and waited another few minutes until I could catch my breath and try again. The ice in the air was vicious and I felt it start to lacerate the insides of my nostrils, making every breath painful. I had already lost all feeing in my fingers, toes and backside and all of a sudden it wasn't just Tanya on death row anymore….I was right there along with her, on the brink of Hypothermia.

My lungs were burning, my breathing was shallow and my strength had failed me completely; even the new wound at the back of my neck had started to freeze over with the blistering, howling wind. But in spite of all that, I stayed alert, because even the cold couldn't temper the adrenaline that my fright had instigated within me. I knew it was still there. I could almost feel it waiting for me to step out, and why it should wait for me to step out of the corner I didn't know, because surely it could swoop down again and attack if it wanted to.

I kissed the top of Tanya's head then as I shed the first tears for her life.

"Meus diligo," I whispered against her head. "Me paenitet. Please forgive me. I will get you help. I promise, even if I must die trying."

"She is already dead," came a deep, growling sound from the eaves above my head. I scampered backward in surprise, but there was nowhere to go as I was already backed firmly against the wall.

"Who's there?" I demanded, though I sounded more frightened than alarming. At least the rattling of my heart helped to warm me up a little.

"Leave her," the voice came again, and no matter how hard I looked or stretched my neck to see, the thing never came into view. "You cannot help her anymore."

Like a maddened lunatic I started to pull the borders of the blankets away from the sides of her face so that I could inspect her. It couldn't have been true. She couldn't have died right there in my arms, a mere few buildings away from the doctor's. Heaven wouldn't be so cruel. I refused to believe it.

"Why is everyone trying to get me to hand over my fiancé tonight?" I screamed into the night as I touched her face with trembling hands, looking in despair as her head fell back and her mouth fell open. I widened my eyes and started to open the blankets at the center so that I could feel her body on the inside. She was still very warm and it gave me hope. "I will not leave her! If you want her you will have to kill me first!"

"I have no interest in the maiden," the growling voice said again. "My interest is in seeing you back to the cottage before _you_ die yourself."

"Where are you?" I screamed out, beginning to get enraged at his cowardice and the fact that I couldn't get myself on my own two feet. "Pissing coward! Come out where I can see you? At least the rapist had then decency to show himself!"

Before I could utter another word, a looming, black figure landed in front of me and stood tall and wide in a long black cloak that touched the floor and a face that couldn't be seen inside the shadows of the generous hood of his cloak. I thought I saw something like black wings contract behind him as he flitted before my eyes, but it all happened so fast that I couldn't be sure. I had never seen anything so large in my life and it didn't help that I was crouched on the floor in a corner either. I tightened my arms protectively around Tanya and turned my body sideways, against the thing, so that I could shield her.

"Never, _ever_ liken me to a human," the thing growled and stepped forward, exacerbating his towering stance over me. I all but lost my breath as he came in closer and though my heart pounded with the might of a lion, my brain started to feel like it lacked oxygen.

"What are you? What do you want?" I asked through clenched teeth. I was determined to see its face and determined to protect Tanya from it at all costs.

"Leave the maiden and get up. You are too weak to carry her back. Set her down and I will make sure you get to the cottage safely."

"I AM NOT LEAVING HER!" I screamed up at him, which made my breathing worse. I starting panting through short breaths, both because of the frigid cold and the way my heart stampeded in my chest. "Show yourself!"

I thought I even saw him cock his head to the side in mock curiosity.

"I stand right before you."

"But you still hide," I growled through clenched teeth. "Remove your headpiece so that I can see your face. You say you are not human. What are you? I demand to know! And what is it you want with my fiancé?"

He didn't move. He just stood there and I knew he was looking right at me because of the angle of his head, but he was still faceless inside the shadows of his cloak.

"I want nothing with your dead maiden."

That's when I went frantic again.

"Hush! She is not dead!" I shrieked as I started tearing through the blankets again. "_Tanya_?"

I got the blankets open at the front again and started running my hands over her chest and across her neck. "But you are warm meus diligo! How can you be dead when you are so warm?"

Like a wounded fool, I started to cry, shaking her body in my arms and screaming her name over and over into the night.

"Not yet!" I shrieked as I brought her lifeless form up to my face and smothered my face into her neck. "Tanya! Wake up!"

"This is senseless!" The thing growled and took another threatening step forward. "Leave her! Get back to the cottage and I will clear your path!"

"What do you want with me?" I screamed up at him with blurred vision. "She is dead! I have lost her! I have failed her! She was to be my wife! I cannot leave her out here like a pissing prostitute in the street!"

"Then I will carry her for you back to the cottage."

Something was oddly peculiar about his focus on me and all of a sudden the axis of every first impression I had of him shifted drastically. Still clinging Tanya to me, I tried to stand again, but slipped and fell back to the floor with a hard thud. The thing cursed and before I could blink again, he had Tanya in his arms. I went crazy then. I swung to face the wall and crawled upward with numb hands, and once I was on my feet again I lunged at the thing to get Tanya from him. With one graceful movement he blocked my attack and got me by the neck to hold me suspended off the floor. His fingers were as hard as rock and as cold as the snow, and somehow I just knew that he spared me the full crushing force of his hand. I gagged and swung my legs wildly beneath me as I tried to get my fingers under his steel grip at my throat. The gentleness with which he placed me on my feet right after was a direct contradiction to the power and roughness I felt in his hand. I leaned over and held my knees once I was on foot again and gasped for air.

"You tried to attack me?" He asked curiously as if nothing like that had ever happened before.

I raised my hand and grabbed the tail end of one the blankets that hung off Tanya's dead body.

"Give her to me," I gasped. He rocked his head back then and roared in laughter; a sound so deafening and blood curdling that I almost cringed and fell back into the corner where I was crouched before.

"I knew you were special," he said and turned away from me.

"What?"

"No human has ever dared to attempt an attack on me before you, Mr. Masen."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know a lot about you," his voice was grainy, rough and deep.

I stood erect then and shifted my eyes between Tanya in his one arm and the faceless shadow inside the hood.

"You were following me earlier tonight."

"I was. You knew. You are perceptive."

"Why?"

"I don't like the word follow," he said.

"Then what do you call it?"

"Protection."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Protec…..?"

It was all too surreal. Everything about that night was peculiar and deviant, down to the almost gothic snarl of the wind.

"What do you want from me? You obviously want something or else you wouldn't be…."

He lowered his head to look at Tanya then looked back at me again.

"You were about to attack me, knowing you couldn't defeat me, and even though you think she is dead ….because…."

"I love her," I bit out and I gaped at her body in despair. "She was to be…" Then I sighed.

The next few seconds flew by in taut silence and only when I looked back into the vacuum where I assumed a face would be, he spoke.

"Are you willing to make a pact for her life?" He asked.

I swallowed and frowned copiously up at him. "What on earth are you referring to?"

"I am straight with my words so listen carefully, because I will not say it again. I will sound my offer once and I expect your answer immediately. If you fail to comply, I will take you and your dead fiancé to her cottage door and leave promptly and you will not hear from me again."

I nodded and gulped in agitation. "I understand."

"You are a theology major at the university," he stated.

"Yes."

"Though you have no intentions of becoming a priest, you study it because you are somehow entranced by celestial beings and their power. However, you keep yourself at arms length from any commitment to it."

"How in heaven's name…."

"I told you already, I know a lot about you. Please do not make me repeat myself. I am not very patient and already I have stepped out of my jurisdiction by speaking with you at all. We do not have much time left."

All I could do was frown and shake my head and try my best to keep up.

"I will save her life if you make a pact to enlist yourself in the seminary tomorrow by nightfall and do what needs doing by way of making yourself a priest."

A barrage of questions and exclamations started attacking me right then and I didn't know where to start.

"What do you mean by…save her life? You said she was already dead." Suddenly I wasn't so sure anymore and I hurried to her body hanging from his arm. I couldn't believe it when I felt a faint pulse under her jaw. In my panic at the presence of the creature and the command in his voice when he told me she was dead, I believed it automatically, even though I knew she was still alive. I knew by the warm and pliant molds of her skin as I ran my panicking hands over her, but still, I had believed him.

"She is as good as dead," he said. "Minutes left, seconds even. She would have died tonight anyway. It is her time. Even if you had made it to the doctor, he has no medicine to cure what she has. It was a wasted trip."

"How will you save her?" I asked, getting straight to the point; lunging at any opportunity to save her.

"All you need to know is that I will. What is your answer? Time is running out."

"She will be healed? Tonight?"

"Completely."

"But…," I held my hair at the both sides of my head and widened my eyes as I stared despairingly at her face. "If I say yes and do what you ask…..I will have to leave her."

"Tomorrow."

"That means…."

"Give me your answer."

"First tell me why," I demanded with a racing and unsteady heart as I looked up at his menacing figure.

"I am a guardian of the church from a certain legion of your heaven, bound to the earth. That is all I can tell you. There is a drastic shortage of priests. I have a quota to fill and you are my pick."

"This is not real," I shook my head, feeling as if I was going crazy, still clutching my hair in panicked shock.

"It is real. Give me you answer. You will not see me after tonight, nor will you tell anyone about me. I strictly forbid it, or you will suffer the consequences."

"This is ludicrous."

"Is that your answer?"

"What about Tanya? She was to be my wife! This will devastate her!"

"Devastation is an emotion only the living can suffer. She won't if she's dead."

"Aargh!" I exclaimed, tortured by the choice of saving her, only to abandon her right after.

"This is the last time I will prompt you. Give me your answer now."

"What will happen if I agree but then break the contract?"

"If you breech, then so will I and her consequential death will not be by my hands. It will happen automatically because as I said…..tonight is her natural time to die. If she lives, it will be on borrowed time. You _must_ keep that pact if you make it."

I raised myself again and dropped my head, then with one last longing look at the face of the goddess whose beauty defied even the clutches of death, I sighed and gave in to his request.

"Save her. I'll do it."

As soon as I said it, my feet lifted off the round and everything flashed by me in a matter of seconds. Before I could even react to the shock and terror of being airborne, I was placed before the front door of the Denali cottage with Tanya back in my arms.

"I'll be watching you," the voice warned and then faded away.

I whipped my body around toward his sound and stared out into the darkness, turned my head left and right, looked up and down, but he was nowhere. He disappeared just as swiftly as he had appeared and the next thing I knew Tanya opened her eyes and smiled up at me.

That was in 1804, four years prior to the night I stood with her letter in my hand, begging me to visit her one last time before my ordination into the priesthood. I knew I shouldn't have. I knew it had the markings of something unclean and that the one who called himself my "guardian" had in fact been watching me since that first night. I hadn't seen or heard from him after our first encounter, but I knew he was there. Just like that night when I felt his presence behind me like an unearthly stalker in the night, I felt him near, all the time, checking on me….making sure that I stayed true to our pact.

The tragedy of the human condition however, is weakness. The spirit is always willing to do right, but the flesh is weak. We are emotionally charged and driven by entities that make it impossible to resist our need for love and physical human contact. It may have been easier for me, like I had witnessed with the priests I came to know, to resist what needed resisting if I hadn't known it beforehand; if I hadn't known what it felt like to be loved and desired by a woman and to love her back. But in my four years at the seminary, studying diligently to become the priest that I didn't really want to become, I hadn't been able to fall out of love with her. And because I knew how dangerous it was to be distracted by that carnal urge, I severed all contact with her and made her believe that I didn't want her anymore. I had hoped that she would grow bitter with hatred and turn away from me, but as the years crawled by her letters kept coming to my door. They started off despondent and cluttered with questions and pain, then they turned angry and accusing, then they turned into peculiar rants about odd, random things that had nothing to do with us or anything at all. No letter however was without evidence of her love, and it stunned me the way she clung on to hope that one day I would turn away from the seminary and go back to her.

As if she knew that something wasn't right.

I couldn't turn my back on the seminary though. My one encounter with the creature of the night four years earlier was enough to convince me that he was to be taken by his word; and had I broken our pact, Tanya's life would have been forfeited.

When I finished reading her last letter I removed the guard from my lantern and held the edge of the page to the open flame. Once it caught fire, I dropped it into the ash tray and watched it burn, like I had with all of her letters before that. I paced the floor of my room and frowned into the darkness, fighting between the decision to go to her or stay away as I knew I should. After pacing myself into a sweat, I ended up convincing myself that it would be harmless to pay her a short visit and that I was by no means breaking the pact. I would see her, allow her to offload all her anger and pain on me, placate myself and her, somewhat, then return to the seminary and continue on as usual. I threw off my bedroom robe and changed quickly into my trousers, shirt, sweater, coat and shoes, then slipped out of my room quietly. There was no set curfew in the seminary, but there was an unspoken rule or expectation that the students not leave the premises after a certain hour. I was effectively breaking my first rule in four years…and the first one of the night.

Henri was on the ground floor stacking hoards of old newspapers to be taken out the next morning to the trash.

"You are working late tonight, Henri." I said to him. I saw him notice my attire, but he nodded and pretended that he didn't.

"I must step out for a short while," I went on, then gestured to the staircase I had just descended with my thumb. "You were right. It was an urgent matter that I must attend to, and it is…_anomyme_."

He nodded again and made a gesture with his hands as if to say he understood. I patted him appreciatively on his shoulder and left through the back gates, because our one security guard had a preference for the booth at the front.

With no horse to aid my journey, I made haste on foot; mapping out the route in my head that would never be forgotten to me. I passed the spot on the stretch with the bakery where it all happened, the spot that haunted me and raised my pores every time I passed it. And he was with me, I knew, because he promised he would be; following and "protecting". So I walked in confidence without fear for my safety from any human element. After meeting him four years prior, I had submerged myself in every piece of literature I could find about angels, looking for some kind of explanation about him, but nothing I read described him to me or offered any answers to my nagging questions. So, I let it go.

I arrived at the path off the road to the Denali cottage, and stared at the door for the longest while. Again, I battled with my conscience and though I came close to turning away and returning to the seminary more than once, the look of the place tugged at my heart strings and made me oddly nostalgic. She opened the door after one knock and when she did, she stumbled backward in surprise with her hands clasped over her chest.

"May I come in?" I asked.

Her eyes were already swarmed with tears as she nodded and stepped aside for me to enter. The smell of the cottage was exactly the same, and every single piece of furniture was in the exact spot I remembered. The only thing different about the place was the sound. It was awfully quiet for the Denali household, or for any household endowed with four women for that matter.

"Where is your family?" I asked. She continued to stare at me, awestruck, then took a deep breath and dropped her hands to her sides.

"Back in Italy."

I frowned and shifted my eyes between hers searchingly.

"For a holiday?" I asked.

"No," she shook her head. "They went back two months ago. Father got an offer back home, so they all left."

"Without you?"

She nodded and her tears started streaming viciously.

"Yes."

"But… why?"

"Because..." she pulled her eyebrows up and to the center in a heart wrenching expression."I couldn't leave. You are here, Edward."

"Tanya," I exhaled a rough breath and took two steps toward her. "You shouldn't have stayed behind. You foolish girl."

"I couldn't leave without seeing you again."

Though still beautiful, her face had the marks of pain and grief etched into her youthful skin, leaving her with a look that made her older than she really was. It hurt to see the dimness in her eyes. She used to have a sparkle in them, a mischievous sparkle that could excite the most dormant of old men. Her laugh used to bounce off every person in a room. Even if you didn't know what she was laughing at you found yourself laughing along like a giddy fool, infected by the contagious spirit in her. But I had to focus on the present and though it tore at me, I had to make her understand this time, finally, that we could not be together. Whether through the priesthood or through her death, our destinies were not cut from the same cloth and we were not meant to be together.

"Well now you have seen me," I said. "So after tonight, you can go back to Italy. It is not right for a young girl to live on her own like this."

"I was not supposed to be on my own. I was supposed to be with you."

I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth, trying to stifle the urge to hold her. She looked like she desperately needed comforting and seeing her for the first time in four years fueled a dormant flame in me. "Tanya. It is better this way, and regardless of the way I feel about you, I have to do this and you have to go away."

She frowned at me suspiciously and took a step toward me, closing the space between us so that we were closer than we had been in the longest while. Her eyes scanned my face for an answer to her questions and then she grabbed her throat and inhaled.

"You still love me," she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"What?"

"Not even four years has changed that look on your face, Edward. It is the same today as it was back then and I know you better than anyone else. You still love me."

"Of course I still love you!" I growled and stepped into her menacingly. I regretted my words immediately afterward because instead of turning her away from me, they gave her hope.

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I have to."

"I do not understand!"

"Regardless…you must accept it."

"Edward…!"

"_Hush_! This was a mistake….I am sorry, but I must leave at once."

"Wait!" She cried out and grabbed my arm as I turned to leave. With my back to her and her fingers enclosed around the sleeves on my forearm, I bent my head, shuddering from the mere touch of her. I hadn't been touched by a woman in four years, and specifically by her, and even though the contact was innocent, it charged something inside of me and overrode my better judgment.

"There is a reason I asked you to come," she choked through her tears. I did not pull my arm away from her hand. Instead, I tried to listen.

"Once you are ordained, you will close yourself off forever; not only to me but to everything instinctual and impulsive in you…."

"What is your point?"

She squeezed my arm and sent a dangerous shiver up to my shoulders.

"Let me give you something that you will not be able to have for the rest of your life."

I turned to face her and she took another step closer. I could feel her breath on my face she was so close. I could smell the fragrance in her hair and the sun on her skin. The molten churning at the base of my stomach shot through my legs and all of a sudden there was nothing more important than enabling it.

"Let me give you what you have saved yourself for all those years," her eyes dropped to my chest and she tilted her head slightly to the side.

"We were supposed to be with each other, Edward," she went on. "And if I have to accept this, at least, give me what you have promised me all those years ago before you leave me for good."

"Woman," I exhaled down into her face. "You are the devil himself."

"Maybe," she sniffled. "But at least, if I go to hell for taking what's mine, I shall go happily."

"Hell is not something to play with, Tanya."

"I already know hell," she bit out harshly. "My life right now… is hell. Do not preach to me, you do not have the right. You know you want to do this and I know that you still want me. I can see it in your eyes. I can see the red glow of desire lick behind your irises."

I almost fell to my knees when I saw her pull the string of her corset from behind. The thing slacked instantly and her breasts relaxed inside of it. She started peeling off her layers right there in front of me and my eyes fastened themselves to her, like a hypnotized puppet will no will of its own.

"What are you doing?"

"Make me a woman, Edward," she whispered with heavily hooded eyes. "I gave you a promise, that you would be my first and I intend to keep that promise and make you keep yours. After this, you won't have to deal with me ever again."

I grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her vilely. "If you think this will make me change my mind!"

Her dress dropped to the floor and my eyes almost burned themselves out when I saw her for the first time in nothing but her undergarments. She unclasped the clip in her hair next and let her tousled locks fall to her shoulders, weakening me from the core straight out.

"Witch," I hissed, breathily.

She smiled and divested herself of the rest. I had never seen a naked woman before then and she knew that. She knew that the sight of her curves and her breasts and the hair that concealed her most private parts would shatter my last reserve, and that hers in particular would appeal especially to me.

With an expelled groan under my breath I grabbed for her and crushed her against me. The sound she emitted as our tongues collided hardened me in my trousers and after that moment, I was lost to all reason and conscience. I had her in my arms, hot and languid and offering me the one thing notorious enough to be the demise of all mankind. She didn't hesitate to undress me and before long we were both naked and pressed to each other, falling to the floor by the fireplace, robbing each other of our chastity in the most unaffectionate and greedy manner possible.

I was rough because I had been without, her seduction being too errant and malicious for it to incite tenderness from me. I drove myself into her like a blind thief, hearing her cries of both pleasure and pain, feeling her body contract and loosen around at me at the same time; not once considering the consequences my lust would confer afterward. As far as I was concerned, after could wait. The magnificent sensation of her hot, moist, virginal walls around me was inebriating and before long I was thrusting into her so hard and squeezing every soft part of her body, that even her screams were driving me over the edge. I had never felt anything like it before and suddenly I wondered if I could ever live without it again.

We made eye contact and I saw the glint of mischief in her eyes, the one I used to know, that knowing and entrapping look like she was up to no good. It made sense to me then; her plan. Her seduction was supposed to be her way of getting me hooked on her again, drugged to the point where I wouldn't be able to walk away. She couldn't keep me with love alone, so she tried to trap me with sex. I got angry as the connection in our eyes fired off. I was carnally weak, a failure at best for having broken my vows to the church two nights shy of receiving my robes. Not even going back to the seminary quietly for confession would erase what I had done or wipe away the stink that I had smeared all over myself. It would follow me everywhere and everyday. It would stay with me and the scent of our sex would cling to me forever, I was sure.

I growled into her face as I slammed my body into hers, over and over, so hard and fast that even her screaming turned into a shrieking sound with no break for breath. Her head was thrown back and her hair was flying everywhere and with every thrust against her inner wall, her legs would jerk back. Her nails were biting into my shoulders and her breasts were bobbing like obedient, excitable little soldiers underneath me. I grabbed her hair and forced her head back even further so that I could run my tongue from her collar bones to her chin, in nasty depiction of ownership, marking her next with my teeth and a sucking so vicious that I could no longer tell if her screams were from pleasure or pain.

It was over all too soon as I felt my self harden impossibly more inside of her. She was going into convulsions by then, glowing red from perspiration and sexual gratification. I pulled her head back harder as I exploded, watching the way she clenched her eyes tightly shut. She sucked in a harsh breath and tightened around my erupting erection in response to the low growl I let out against her cheek. She didn't orgasm with me, probably because it was her first time but that didn't take away from the spell that had her drugged and flushed.

I dropped her unceremoniously and pushed off of her, aghast and confused. She started laughing in delight, rocking her head from side to side with closed eyes and her legs still spread wide before me. I saw the blood of her innocence smeared on the insides of her thighs and I turned away from it quickly, disgusted with myself moments too late. Even though my heart was not completely set in becoming a priest, I had always felt an inclination toward it, or at the very least, a strong passion for knowledge of celestial beings. I had lost my chance at love and traded my freedom to spare Tanya's life, but at the end of the day, my life at the seminary was quiet and peaceful and I had grown comfortable with the lifestyle. My relationship with God was neither lukewarm nor overtly passionate but I tried to be loyal and for the most part, I thought we understood each other. But now...I had destroyed it, and possibly even Tanya's life, as I broke not only my vows, but my pact with the angel of the night.

How could I return to the priesthood after what I had just done?

"My God!" Tanya shrieked. "That was invigorating!" She sat up with her knees bent, her legs spread and her back arched so that her breasts were pointing toward me.

"I want to do it again," she grinned and licked her lips. I shot up off the floor and started retrieving my strewn clothes.

"I have to leave," I said.

"What?" She exclaimed and stood up to come after me. "But…..Edward! You only just got here. The night still has so many hours left. We could do it again...all night long if you want to."

She held my shoulders from behind and pressed her cheek between my shoulder blades.

"Oh Edward," she whispered. "You are even more wonderful than I ever dreamed you would be!"

I shrugged out of her hold and started pulling on my under garments, hearing her stomp her foot behind me in dissidance. When I turned around she had her arms folded across her chest and a scowl on her face.

"Tanya!" I growled. "You have no idea what just happened here! I have gone against _everything_ I have devoted my life to for the past four years!"

"And what about _who _you had devoted yourself to before that?" She screamed at me. "You arrogant, selfish man!"

"And foolish," I bit out as I pulled on my trousers next. "Don't forget foolish."

"What is so wrong with letting yourself enjoy what you were made for?"

"That seems paradoxical coming from you," I answered. "You were the one hell bent on waiting for marriage, and now you are trying to convince me that you think it's ok to abandon yourself to impulses?"

"I think differently now, obviously. You forget, I have no marriage to look forward to."

"Tell me something," I said angrily, as I dressed myself with rough, impatient hands. "Were you telling the truth about wanting to wait for marriage or was that your way of pressuring me into marriage?"

She pouted slightly and swung her hips back and forth. My eyes dropped to her hips and when I caught sight of her womanhood again, my breath hitched. I could still smell her moisture reeking off of her like a drugging sexual mantra. Her first time, and already she was a vixen.

"Does it even matter anymore?" She asked and passed her finger down the front of my shirt to the button on my trousers.

I swallowed and brushed her hand away, but then she grabbed my testicles with her other hand and squeezed me. I fell forward against her and gasped through clenched teeth, and just like that, I was hard and ready again. She liked my reaction and turned her face in to the side of mine where she kissed, as she massaged my testicles with her left hand. I groaned gutturally and grabbed her by her hips again.

"You see," she whispered with hooded eyes. "This is what you were made for, Edward. You were made for me. See how I know how to touch you? You never have to live without this again, Edward. Never again. I promise to please you every day... every hour if you want me to. I still love you."

I closed my eyes and bit down on my jaw, trying to find the will to back away, but then she pushed her hand into my pants and got my bare flesh in her hands.

"Imagine," she whispered and she squeezed and massaged, making my eyes roll into the back of my head. "Imagine my body clinging to you every day, my limbs wrapped round you, my hands touching you like this, grabbing you, my breasts in your face, hearing me scream your name."

Then she took my hand in her free one, put it between her legs and curled my fingers around her moist flesh.

"Imagine," she gasped and licked my ear with her wet, hot tongue. "Sex,that keeps getting better and better and…."

"No..." I grunted harshly, pushing her away from me violently. I grabbed my hair in two fistfuls and turned my back to her, breathing heavily though my sexual frustration and disorientation. I almost admitted it to her. I almost told her right then and there about the pact made with the dark angel four years ago that kept me away from her; and that if I failed to deliver she would die. "Get away from me. You are a seductress and I have to remove myself."

"How can you even think to walk away from me now after what just happened?" She cried out. "What are you? A monster?"

"It is what you offered!" I screamed back. "You offered yourself to me, knowing that I am a man of God and knowing full well that I intended to return to the seminary! I did not come back for you, Tanya! I called on you because you plead with me in your letter. And now the visit is over."

"But I can't let you leave!" She wailed, pleadingly. "I thought I could let myself feel you like that and then watch you walk away again, but now that I've had you, it is impossible to let you go, Edward! You were the only man to touch me!"

I bent my head and squeezed my hands into tight fists, praying for the right words to appease her and for the strength to walk away.

"Good bye, Tanya," I said and turned to leave. She let out the most agonizing scream then. The sound of it terrified me and froze me in my tracks. Every pore on my body rose. I had heard about it before, but hadn't known the full hair raising effect of it until I heard it with my own ears; the sound of a scorned woman.

All of a sudden, I couldn't get far enough away from her.

"Edward!" She screamed. I didn't turn back. I reached for the doorknob, hearing her footsteps scamper about behind me. "I swear to you! I cannot do this anymore, especially now. The pain of living without you is more than I can bear! Please! Do not leave me! Me paenitet, sed fieri sentio et excrucior!"

I remembered the words from her written letter to me. _Me paenitet, sed fiery sentio et excrucior_; Latin for, "_I am sorry, but this is how I feel and it is torture_."

I closed my eyes painfully tight and turned the door knob.

"Good bye," I said again in a deep, gruff voice. "Some things cannot be explained, but you ought to know that there is no other way. I am doing this for you."

"Then farewell, my love," she wept. I raised my head and stared at the door as I opened it, still not able to turn around and look her in the face.

"In aeternum te amabo. I will love you always," she uttered, then let out a loud choking gasp.

The sickening thud of her body hitting the floor made me whip my body around. Her naked body lay sprawled, with limbs strewn out disgracefully at her sides. Her hair was tumbled over her face so I couldn't see her eyes, and the dagger that stood erect from the center of her chest created an oozing mess of blood that ran hotly down to her stomach and over her sides to the floor. I dropped to my knees, stunned and wide eyed as her body twitched for the last time; blasting the air out of my lungs.

"Tanya!" I screamed with outstretched arms, my body shaking in fright and shock. "_Deus Meus_! What have I done!"

I crawled on my knees to her side and pulled her body into my lap, hunched over her and continued to scream until I tasted my own blood in my throat.

"_TANYA!_"

It was the second time I had looked down at her dead face, even if the first time she wasn't completely dead yet. I screamed in terror and I screamed in anger. I screamed in agony and disillusionment with God and I screamed out in shock. How could it have gone so awfully wrong? It was just supposed to be a visit, a few short hours with an old friend and somebody I loved. But in that time, I had snuck out of the seminary, called on my ex fiancé who I knew was still in love with me, knowing no good could come of it, broken my vow of abstinence, lost my virginity, took hers, and caused her death. If I had stayed put and just left it alone, she would have been sitting by her window right then, presumably on the look out for me; but she would have lived.

The emotional trauma of her first sexual experience with the man she loved but couldn't have, compounded with her years of longing and grief was a sure recipe for disaster. I should have known.

I pressed her bloody, limp frame to me and the dagger came between us. I ripped it from her chest and the slippery, gurgling sound it made as it slid out of her almost made me gag. I dropped the heavy, stained thing to the floor and wept like a child for the tragedy of losing her in that way, and for every wrong turn I had made since the night she was supposed to die from the cholera. That death, though uncomfortable, would not have tainted her soul like this. She was dying naturally, in her own time, and I had interjected and stopped what was natural and given her life that she was probably not supposed to have. And because of that, every forbidden day she lived was torture for her. She was unhappy, she was lonely and she had pined for me while I sat in a seminary studying my books, thinking that I was doing right by her.

Tanya's blood was on my hands. I had single handedly destroyed that girl's spirit and soul by stepping in the way of fate, and in the end it turned out worse than I could have ever imagined. She was supposed to die in 1805, naturally, young, loved and happy. But instead, she died in 1809, unnaturally, older than she was, scorned and bitter. I let go of her then and let her body fall from my lap. She rolled onto her side like a limp dolly, leaving me horrified and covered in her blood.

I ran to the front door and buttoned up my coat in front of me, glanced at her one last time then escaped into the dark night. I had no idea where I was going, but I was going fast. I ran from her house and I ran in the opposite direction of the seminary, sucking at the cold air and fighting to see through the water in my eyes. I couldn't go back to the seminary. I had damned my soul in too many ways for me to walk back in there and expect a mere confession to wash me clean.

I ran like a maddened lunatic, blind and unfocused, toward the railway station with the plan to flee town. Nothing made sense except the fact that the body of a woman everyone knew to be my ex fiancé would be found on the night I was missing from the seminary. It wasn't enough to convict me, but it was enough to make me want to flee the suspicion and accusations. And what if Henri had read my letter before bringing it up to my room? He knew Tanya well because she came by often to drop letters, hoping to catch a glimpse of me, though she never did. The walls of the seminary were high and women who weren't cooks or maids were not allowed past the front door.

I wasn't only running from the potential trouble of conviction, I was running from my life and from all the forms of failure and debauchery I had piled upon myself. I fell in the street at least five times in my hysteria, wailing and swearing and gnashing my teeth.

Then without warning I was grabbed and pulled into the sky; moving against the biting wind at a speed that sucked the breath out of me. All physical sensation in my body was lost. I might as well have been a rock being pulled through the air for all the use I was to myself. I was so high that there was nothing but darkness and shadows beneath, even the thing that carried me was too heavily cloaked in black for me to see him. However, I didn't have to see to know that it was him and that he had come back for me... that he had been watching all along.

He watched and he waited and now that I had made a complete mess of everything, he was enraged and quite possibly flying me to my death. Our descent was swift and we landed on the flat area of a rooftop between three massive, slanting rafters of a building that must have been at least three stories high. When we got low enough he dropped me then flew a little distance away to perch himself on the peak of a vertical beam. I scampered to my feet once I landed and dared not look over the edge. I was intolerably afraid of heights and the ghastly trip it took to get me on that rooftop alone had managed to turn every part of my insides, out. In fact, the trauma of it was suddenly too much and I bent over and relieved myself of my guts.

"Humans," the winged creature grumbled in irritation. Even after four years, I remembered his voice. Once I was done emptying myself, I stumbled away from the mess and looked over at the perched thing. I could see him clearer that night than four years before. The storm back then made the sky overcast and starless. But on this night, the sky was clear though cold, and the moon lit the rooftop where I stood, casting beams of light near the angel with black wings. His wings were folded behind him and once again the large hood of his black cloak engulfed his face in shadows.

"What is your name?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

"You've been watching me," I continued.

Again no answer.

"You know what happened tonight."

"I am disappointed," he growled.

"You? Heh….how do think I feel?"

"Have you any idea the trouble you have caused me?"

"I think I can guess," I grumbled as I glanced behind and wobbled slightly. "God, I hate heights."

"That's a pity," he said. I raised my eyes to him and frowned. Everything was a fast blur. The events with Tanya, my hysterical attempt at escape, my flight, and now this.

"What are you going to do with me?" I asked.

"I have no idea," He said, raising himself effortlessly to stand on one foot on the pointed beam. His movement caused his cloak to swarm out around him and his wings to open up slightly.

_Graceful_, I thought.

"I have to hand you over to my Elders. Our pact was broken, you have to pay...as well as, I have revealed myself to you...and we have to do something about that."

"Your…..elders? _Elders?_ There are more?"

"You have gone and created a monstrous mess for me to clean, Edward," he said. "Not only is the pact broken, but you have caused a death that would not have happened had you not made the mistake you made tonight."

I sighed and squeezed my eyes painfully tight as the memory of Tanya assaulted me again.

"You are no longer fit for the priesthood like I envisioned," he said.

"Listen chap," I started getting annoyed. "I was fine before you showed up four years ago. You were the one who appeared and got mixed up in my life. I didn't ask anything of you. You offered and I accepted, regretfully, and now because of it _I_ am in this mess, not you."

"Precisely and that is why I am so tempted to end your life right now, vengefully, for the complication you have caused me."

He jumped down to the floor with his wings at half mast and turned his broad back to me.

"What kind of creature are you?" I asked, staring at his wings in awe.

"You're oddly curious for a man in so much trouble."

"What trouble? Like death? Death does not scare me," I said to his back. "Especially after tonight, _life _does. Death would be nothing but a welcomed escape from all of this."

He turned on me then.

"So kill me," I said.

He cocked his head to the side and stood quiet for a long while, staring so intently through his black shadow for a face that my pores rose. He embodied danger and darkness in the most complicated form of simplicity, and when he started moving toward me, I flinched inwardly.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" He asked.

"Not tonight."

Just then something slick and dark landed soundlessly behind him and my eyes averted to the smaller yet no less enigmatic silhouette of another just like him.

"Emmett," the female voice called. "What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

I looked back at the looming figure right before me, silent, dark, unmoving, eerie, frightening...and I swallowed. I _was _afraid.

"Emmett?" I said up to him. "That is your name?"

"They've sent me for you," the female one said from where she stood. "We have to go, now."

"I know what I want from you now," Emmett said to me. "As reparation for breaking our pact."

"Emmett!" She called again. "They are angered. Come now!"

"What do you want?" I swallowed.

"I want you to come with me willingly."

"What?"

"Either way you don't have a choice. Willing or not, you have to be presented and your fate will be decided upon, but if you come willingly, things may perhaps….turn out differently."

"I don't understand."

Suddenly the female one took to flight and landed right behind Emmett. She was much shorter than he was. In fact, she seemed shorter than I was, but I may as well have been the size on an ant next to her, for all the silent power she emitted.

"No time for questions," Emmett said. "Speak now."

"Never any time," I mumbled.

"Now!" His voice boomed.

"I am willing."

The girl was the first to fly off and before I could catch a proper breath Emmett had me by my torso under one of his rock solid arms. In the matter of seconds we were alongside the female, gliding side by side effortlessly without a single flap of their black wings. I couldn't bear to keep my eyes open. The knowledge alone of being so high up started to jog my stomach and the visual affirmation would have been the end of me. Just as I was closing my eyes, I saw the female's hood fly back with the force of the wind, but still shut my eyes stubbornly. Like a cornered and threatened child, I willed myself to open my eyes again so that I could at least see what she looked like and then maybe I could turn my face upward to see if Emmett's hood had blown back too. But with my feet being pulled behind me with the speed of our flight and the slapping cold against my face, it was better to hold my breath, hold on for dear life, squeeze my eyes shut and beg for it to be over.

The journey didn't take long, but by the time I was on foot again, I was disoriented, freezing to death, unable to stand upright and wanting to vomit again. I was ushered quickly through double doors to what looked like an ancient and abandoned church, judging by the moonlit stained glass windows and the gigantic markings of crucifix up ahead. The ceiling was completely torn open, either from dilapidation or vandalism, but it worked as a skylight and the moon shone directly through it and cast its light on things on the inside that would have otherwise been only shadows. There were four steps that ran from one end of the empty hall to the next, up at the front, and I guessed that an altar was probably set up there once. I was put to stand at the bottom of the steps and when I was finally able to stand upright and draw a deep breath, I looked up. The gripping urge to turn and flee snagged me then, at the sight before me.

Emmett by himself was disturbing enough. Emmett alongside the female was intimidating to say the least, but standing before nine of them all at once was downright petrifying, and it was all I could do to keep myself from collapsing in sheer fright. What I did do however, was bend over and hurl for the second time that night.

"Humans." I heard Emmett say condescendingly.

He and the female took their places at the third step from the bottom, standing in line with and opposite each other. Below them on the second step from the bottom were two others, and on the first step from the bottom closest to me were two more. At the very top, standing in the center, were three. It looked like a formation of some sort with the three at the top being the pinnacle or the point of the inverted V. The ones on the steps fanned outward with the two on the bottom step standing the furthest apart. Besides Emmett and the girl that came to get him, I couldn't decipher which were male and which were female. They all wore black cloaks and looked like exact replicas of each other, height and size being the only differentiator between them with their black folded wings at their backs and their heads, hooded.

"Emmett," said a male from the top.

"Carlilse," Emmett responded.

"Stand next to the human."

Emmett obeyed and broke formation to stand at my side.

"Present your case," another one from the top said. "And be quick. The night hours are limited and we have far to go."

"The human has violated a pact and needs to repay," Emmett said.

I looked up at Emmett incredulously.

"Is this why you asked me to come willingly? So that you could get me into trouble?"

"Don't speak unless you are asked to," Emmett growled under his breath.

"And what about the pact _you_ have broken, Emmett?" The same one asked. "You have committed a serious offense by disobeying the rules and revealing yourself to a human."

"With all due respect, Aro," Emmett began. "I had a worthy reason and it was not done without heavy thought and consideration. I was not trying to be reckless."

"Adding one priest to the order does not justify you violating The Legion's rules. You have exposed yourself to a human, exposed The Legion, interfered in the lives of humans, saved a life that was not supposed to be saved, then lost it disparagingly. And after all that, your purpose behind it has failed to materialize. We are not allowed to interfere in humans' lives, Emmett. You know that. Our only purpose is to protect from a safe distance."

The voice of Aro came down on me next.

"You won't become a priest now will you, human?" He asked me. I gulped and blinked upward.

"I cannot," I managed to say.

"Nor should you," he answered. "Not after the situation you have created tonight. At the very least, ordination in two days will be out of the question."

I nodded.

"The fine for _your_ violation, Emmett," Aro said. "Is usually expulsion from The Legion."

Emmett took a step forward and did something that made me stop breathing entirely. He raised his hands and pulled his hood down exposing this profile to me. It was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen. His skin looked just as taut and as hard as he felt and his skin tone was so pale that no color could have been attributed to it, though if I had to choose a color, I would have to say….grayish white, like ceramic or perhaps….stone. His face had human proportions and what looked like human bone structure but I was almost positive that there was more to him than that because he was most certainly not human. His hair was as black as his cloak and when he glanced down at me his eyes were a penetrating, liquid gray.

"Aro," Emmett said. "The human has kept his silence and has not told anyone about me. He is the only one who has seen, so therefore, my exposure has been limited."

"One is bad enough. It means his human life or his memories must be forfeited one way or another, and you are to blame for that."

"I agree," Emmett said. "And that is why I want to keep him."

"Keep…wha...w….wh…_keep_…me? What in heaven's name does _that_ mean?"

Emmett ignored me and continued to speak.

"I ask to have a say in his sentence since I am his Guardian."

"You have no right to ask anything of the sort since you are about to receive a sentence yourself."

"Aro," the one named Carlisle spoke up. "If it pleases you, allow me to find suitable punishment for Emmett since he belongs to my Host and I will report to you on the status."

After a few seconds of consideration, Aro nodded.

"If you step out of line again, Emmett, The Elders will deal with you ourselves," Aro said and started to descend the steps authoritatively.

"Human," he said to me. I flinched because he came too close and despite how hard I searched the shadows of his cloak, I couldn't see his face. "Your life as you know it has been forfeited due to the actions of a careless Gargoyle. Entering into a pact with one means that unless you deliver, you are bound to him and his will. Seeing that you will not be upholding your end of your contract, especially after having received what he had promised, you have to repay. There are only three ways out of it, hypnosis, death or metamorphosis. Death is recommended because it will be the least expensive method for you. Hypnosis will complicate your life by taking your memories and making you vulnerable to the very unpleasant situation you just left behind. If you choose metamorphosis, your sentence will have to be determined by an elder like myself and it will not be easy for you. You have the choice."

"Death," I said at once. Metamorphosis and whatever it meant to them sounded awfully painful and after the night I'd had, I really didn't want to return to that horrid situation of a dead Tanya and an investigating priesthood on my case...least of all with no memory of it all. Death seemed to be the best way out of my trouble.

At the same time however, I couldn't get the word _Gargoyle_ out of my head. He had just said..._Gargoyle_.

"He came willingly," Emmett spoke up. "That means metamorphosis."

"The human has chosen," Aro said in a bored tone. "What is your fascination with this one anyway?"

Emmett glanced at me then back to Aro.

"He was born to be a soldier of the church. I have been his Guardian ever since his boy days and I have seen his life follow a succinct path that kept leading him back to the church. He is fascinated with our kind, has studied us for most of his life thus far and was about to become a priest. He belongs in some division of the order….even if it is our version of it."

"The only reason he agreed to the priesthood was because of your pact," Aro reminded him.

"Wait…," I spoke up feebly, feeling like I weighed the importance of a pint next to them. "You say you are Gargoyles and you said I have studied you, but I have never studied Gargoyles."

"Angels," Emmett said to me. "The Gargoyles in your literature is a myopic and inaccurate depiction of what we really are. We are Guardians of the earth and of the church."

"Angels?"

"Not the ones in heaven," Emmett said. "Closely associated, but our Legion is bound to earth. We have never entered the gates of heaven though we are guided by them. Our work is here. Besides, we do things a bit differently."

"Is death your final choice?" Aro asked, speaking over Emmett. "I have to leave right now and I won't come back to deal with this."

One of the others from the top step glided down to my side and took his hood down. Again, I was awe struck by the precision in the facial structure. It looked human, but at the same time, far from it; a hundred times more striking, a thousand times more mysterious and an infinite amount of times stronger...appealing. His hair was light colored, closest to blond, his eyes were the same kind of gray and his bone structure was sharp. Despite that, however, his expression was less harsh than Emmett's. I guessed from his stance at the top where Aro came down from that he was one in authority as well. He was the first one who spoke to Emmett, the one they called Carlisle.

"Edward, isn't it?" He said to me.

I nodded nervously.

"Emmett usually has an exceptional eye for potential. If he has seen something special in you, there probably is. If you choose metamorphosis, you will not be alone. You will belong to my Host and become part of a team of Guardians, something that should appeal to you based on what Emmett has said. We will guide you accordingly. Choosing death because you are afraid will be unfortunate and I wish you wouldn't."

Something about his tone of voice and the searching quality in his eyes put me at ease.

"Ten seconds," Aro growled. "Or I will go with your first option."

I looked at the one called Carlisle, then I looked over at Emmett, then I looked into the shadows of Aro's hood, then behind them at the others who hadn't moved from the steps. There was still another at the top who hadn't moved either.

"Five, four, three, two…."

I closed my eyes and sighed, trying to shut it all out. At the sound of one, something cold and hard came down on my head and started to squeeze against my skull. When my feet lifted off the floor, I opened my eyes and gasped as I felt the veins in my face start to swell. Aro was about to crush my skull with me suspended in the air and I literally felt the bones in my head start to cave within his grip.

"Metamorphosis," I grunted, as the pressure of his steel fingers closed in harder. "Metamorphosis!"

And then he dropped me to the floor.

"Two hundred years," he said to me the instant I hit the ground. "That is your sentence, and when your time is up you will either cease to exist or revert to human form and live on from there with no memory of your immortal years. Give Carlisle you answer. I will return in one week to set the stone. Carlisle, he is yours. I must leave immediately as there are only a few hours of darkness left. Take care of this. I will be back."

"I have it under control, Aro," Carlisle said. "Thank you."

"Caius," Aro called, and the third one from the top step flew to his side. "Let us fly."

And then the one named Aro spread his black wings and took off in magnificent flight up through the open church ceiling with his companion, Caius, right behind him.


	2. Chapter 1 Discovery

**Chapter 1 **

**Discovery**

October 29, 2008 : 200 years later.

Seattle, Wa

**Bella**

I shouldn't have been alive.

I was 21 years old, sharing an apartment a few blocks away from school with my closest thing to a best friend, Angela Webber and my dog Blade. Blade was a golden Lab and Angela and I went to Seattle University together.

Everyday just before the sun came up I'd open my eyes in a fitful fright, drenched in perspiration, needing a shot of something sinfully strong to calm my nerves. I would then make my way to the kitchen with Blade at my heels, throw back a shot of Tequila or Vodka, then go back to bed.

That was my routine every morning since moving to Seattle after graduating from Forks' High School three years before. I was still unaccustomed to it, even after waking the same way every day for the past three years. I couldn't even blame the nightmares. I had come to realize that I didn't need the help of nightmares to scare me anymore. All I needed were the memories and the sickening, though enigmatic feeling that I had cheated death in a way that bewildered me; not to mention everyone else in my life as well.

How did I cheat death?

It was the summer of 2005, the day I was supposed to leave Forks for college in Seattle. Charlie and Renee, my parents, insisted that they take the trip with me, seeing that I had never been away from home before. They were "worried" about me, despite the fact that I would have been travelling with Angela from school. She and I weren't very close in High School, though we were pleasant enough with each other. But the day she found out that we got accepted to the same university, she went into excitement overdrive and wouldn't leave my side. I didn't particularly mind. I liked Angela. She was quirky and pleasant, though a little strange, but not nearly as infuriating as some of the other empty barrels in school. We had even arranged to live in an off-campus apartment together where our parents could split the rent, since the cost of boarding on campus turned out to be heinous. I wasn't sure how I felt about living with Angela, but I figured we'd be consumed by classes and campus life for a while; enough to keep us out of each other's way. So, I agreed.

The day we were supposed to leave, Renee and I were packed and waiting for Charlie to come home from work. Angela had already called twice to see what the hold up was and as the minutes ticked by, Renee kept finding new things to pack. It was a Sunday and he wasn't supposed to work that day, but because he had taken time off to take the trip with us he wanted to check in one last time. Forks Police Department didn't have many criminal cases to deal with because of the size and scope of the town. Because of that, whenever something _did_ happen to demand police intervention, it turned into an exaggerated fiasco.

As misfortune had it, an insolent tourist chose that very day to get caught driving drunk. When he got hauled into the station for flipping off the officer who pulled him over, he went ballistic, snatched the officer's gun out of its holster and started shooting up the ceiling. Thankfully, no one got injured. They had gotten him restrained easily due to his inebriated state and locked him up in the cell. Following the incident, the station went into an uproar with cops and residents everywhere, and news reporters trying to force their way inside. It was a mess, and because Charlie was the Chief of Police, he couldn't leave.

The commotion didn't settle down for hours. By the time he arrived home that night, it was 9 o'clock and we had missed our Ferry out of Kingston. Angela's dad took her to the port himself when he realized we were late, so I had already resolved myself to the idea of one more night at home. We agreed to leave the following day instead but for some godforsaken reason, Charlie didn't like that idea.

He came home wired and irritated, and insisted on driving down to Kingston to try and catch the 11:20 ferry to Edmonds with our stale tickets. Renee and I tried to talk him out of it because he was visibly worked up, stressed out and exhausted. But because he knew how excited we were and had been waiting all evening, he wouldn't relent. When Charlie made up his mind to do something he usually got bullheaded and refused to back down, so we got into the squad car with our luggage and left Forks late that night.

Renee was worried that Charlie was tired but he promised to catch some sleep on the ferry so she didn't press. We were cutting it very close. It would take at least two hours to get us to Kingston, so we tried to settle in, relax and enjoy the drive. I even saw when Renee turned her head to the side and nodded off to sleep. That turned out to be a huge mistake. We should have stayed alert. We should have sat up and nagged Charlie for the entire drive down.

Somewhere en route on Highway 101 through Port Angeles, Charlie fell asleep at the wheel.

In the matter of seconds the car lost control, plummeted through two trees along the bend and took a nose dive off an incline into the gigantic expanse of black lake. It happened so fast I didn't even have the time to scream. The last thing I noticed before the car hit the water was that Renee was still asleep. Neither she nor Charlie knew when the car had skid off the Highway.

I think the impact with the water alone killed Charlie.

From the damage to the car and the condition of his body after ward, it was obvious that he had been crushed between the air bag, his seat and the car door as the front of the car folded in on them.

I knew, even while trapped underwater in the car after the collision, that they were already dead. When I awoke from my unconscious state, I realized that the car was almost completely filled with water already. I was stapled to the back seat by my seatbelt, because you never drove with Charlie without a seatbelt, while the suffocating lack of air assaulted my lungs. My head was the only part of my body above water inside the last air pocket at the back of the car as the front of the car was completely submerged.

The panic that gripped me was so sudden and crippling, it sent me into a catatonic state.

My eyes were frozen wide and my mouth stretched back in the most agonizing, silent scream, unable to make any sound. Everything and everywhere was black. I couldn't see a thing in the cabin of the car, through I could hear and feel the water rising against my neck.

I realized too that I was a mere breath away from being strangled by my seatbelt; the very thing that held my body suspended and prevented me from sinking into the dark water. It was snapped taut tight against my neck and across one shoulder. My heart literally screamed in my chest. My head hurt, the water was freezing and I started feeling claustrophobic.

With the water then gurgling up to my chin, I tried to bend my head up to see out through the back glass but it was impossible to see anything through the blackness. There was nothing but me and the sea of black water, gurgling with bubbling haste, intent on swallowing the last pocket of air above me.

I couldn't even cry, I was so terrified.

Everything seized; time, understanding, coherency, reaction. I thought I was going to die. I gulped desperately at the last of the air as the water rose in line with my mouth, feeling every part of me from the neck down frozen stiff. Not even my raging adrenaline helped with the cold, and even if it could, my fear would have won and kept me cold and locked.

I knew there was no sense in calling for help. Who would hear me? I was trapped in the back seat of a car, underwater, in the middle of the night, in a small town. Still, my strangled voice begged for the chance to try though it was bound by the prongs of terror and refused to slacken.

There was no sense either in pushing against the back glass of the car, because I would never be strong enough to dislodge the glass and swim to my freedom. I still tried. I was able to get my arms to respond to the screaming hysteria in my heart, and pressed my palms against the glass. And of course it was useless, as I knew it would be.

The moments before death are quiet.

There was no other sound but the gurgling of water as the squad car drank it to fulfilment. That and the gushing of blood behind my throbbing temples were the only sounds to keep me company. And just when I was about to give up and resign myself to it, the most frighteningly disturbing thing happened.

Renee grabbed my right ankle.

It had to be her because I was on the right side of the car behind her, only by that point I was above her, and Charlie wouldn't have been able to reach my right foot from his side. It felt like she had found me by accident and when she did, the panic in her grip was horrifying. I freaked me out immediately. My mother was under there, trapped between her seat and the folded in dash board with no way out, tugging at my foot frantically, begging for help. Instinctively, I pulled in opposition to her yanking, too terrified to know what else to do. But when she felt my live reaction to her, she pulled down even harder.

That's when I found my voice and managed my first scream of despair.

"_MOM?_! Oh my GOD! _MOM! I Can't move! I can't get out!"_

Screaming didn't help, nor did sobbing in impassable fright. I tried to get my foot away but her grip was manic. My breathing came in short gasps and because the water was already up to my mouth I had to stretch my chin upward to talk or to manage proper inhalation. As fast as the water gushed into my mouth, I spat it out, near choking because of the determination of the water and the angle of my chin.

I tried fiddling with my seat belt again, blindly but ferociously. I pulled at the taut strap against my shoulder but it wouldn't budge. I needed to free myself so that I could push my body up higher to get a good deep breath, then maybe swim down to Renee. I wanted to get down to her and help, because even though I knew I couldn't free her, knowing that she was alive and struggling made it imperative that I least try. As far as I was concerned I was dead anyway, and I knew that the benefits of locking myself up in the last pocket of air would have been short lived.

"Mom? I'm trying to get out! Hold on okay? If I could just...ugh... UGH!" Tears of frustration sprung from my eyes when I couldn't get the seat belt to obey.

And sadly, that was her demise. No matter how hard I tugged or screamed at it, I couldn't get it loose. The angle of my dangling body also made it impossible to find the clip to release it. Eventually, her hand, though still firmly leached onto my ankle, stopped tugging and my ears came harder. I sucked in my last, dreadful breath with my eyes squeezed shut, the cold water swallowing my tears as it rose over my nose. Then I felt her fingers relax and her hand floated away. That's when Renee died.

That was the frozen moment in time when I lost her. I had lost both her and Charlie, and I knew that I was next.

Surrendering myself to that kind of helplessness in that deep grave of black water, until then, was the most shattering thing I'd ever experienced. I wasn't breathing any more. I had already had my opportunity at a last breath and now I was holding it; holding it for dear life because even though I was sure my life had come to an end, I couldn't stop fighting. I intended to hold that last breath inside until my lungs burst. Maybe that way, I'd have defied the odds and died of something other than drowning that night. And in some small regard, I'd have won.

I felt the water pass over my eyes then and saturate the hair at the top of my head, engulfing me completely in the frigid wetness. That was it. I was completely submerged, ironically strapped in for safety and living my last moments in earth. There were no flashes from my life's memories in grand white light. There were no faces of the people I loved or rushing images to close the doors for me. There was only blood stopping fright, physical pain, darkness, and the feeling like my insides were swelling. The breath in my lungs started pushing itself out through my nose and mouth in bubbles, until I was all out. I waited as the sound of my pulse beat erratically in my ears, thinking that it would be the last thing I'd ever hear. I waited for the snarly prongs of death to ease the last of my life out of me, petrified, but despising its arrogance and unparalleled supremacy.

I opened my eyes under the water, just about ready to pass out from the swollen pressure in my head when suddenly, something vibrated and ricocheted through the water. I couldn't see a thing through the darkness but I certainly felt it; the strong and unyielding force that grabbed me around my waist and pulled me so hard that it burst the seatbelt away from my chest. I was pulled down quickly and out through what I later realized was the busted back window, and jammed firmly against something hard in the water. That was the last thing I remembered down there because my eyes rolled to the back of my head and I finally passed out with the lake seeping in through my nose and mouth. I even tasted it in the last second.

The most horrible, gagging feeling overwhelmed me when I opened my eyes again and felt something cold and harsh slip away from over my mouth. I even caught a flitting glimpse of a pale figure move over me but before I could wonder, I turned onto my side and expunged myself of my guts. After coughing and choking for minutes on end, I was sure my body was rid of every drop of water.

The feeling of breathing in water was crippling, but the reverse sensation of water on its way _out _of me was nauseating. When I had finally caught a staggering breath, I spat, shook my head in exhaustion and raised my eyes to find my rescuer. I sat upright and turned around, but there was no one there.

_What? _I thought, still disoriented and light headed. I knew I had just felt the presence of someone there with me. I even thought I saw him or her, but apparently I was alone.

"Hello?" I choked out, searching the darkness for any sign of movement.

What I saw were the beams of flash lights approaching the spot where I sat. I also heard distant voices calling out, but they couldn't have been the ones that helped. They were still too far away.

I started to get desperate, searching with determined eyes for my rescuer, certain that someone was there. But I was still too disoriented and confused to be of any use to myself. One thing I was certain of however, was that I was pulled out of that car and laid down on the high bank. None of that was me. That would have been impossible.

"Hello?" I forced out again.

"Save your strength," a quiet voice whispered from behind.

I snapped my head toward it and squinted into the night. The voice sounded close and chilling that it raised my pores. I should have been face to face with a man judging by the closeness of the whisper, but the thin air was the only thing I encountered.

A slight movement between the trees caught my eyes then and that's when I saw it; the obscure and dark silhouette of someone tall and almost completely concealed by the night, standing about fifteen feet away from me. I sensed something deviant about him. His frame was lithe and unmoving and his stance was dominant. I opened my mouth to speak but then he turned away and vanished, leaving only the whisper of disturbed wind behind him.

"Shit..." I gasped with wide eyes, awestruck and bewildered. I couldn't be sure, especially because I was still shaken from what I had just been through. I was light headed and probably susceptible to hallucinations, but I could have sworn that I caught a glimpse of something large shoot out from behind him as he fled. Something that looked a lot like…..wings.

Suddenly there was light everywhere, flashing over my face and in my eyes, and crazed voices shrieking in alarm. Apparently there were tourists in the Lake Crescent Lodge a few hundred kilometers away who had seen from their lake view balcony, something that looked like the headlights of a car in the distance plunge into the water. Just to be sure, they called 911.

I refused to go with the ambulance once they checked me and found that I was okay, because I wanted to see when the car was pulled out. It was day break by the time the divers found the car and had gotten it hooked up to the crane and hauled out. The reality only hit me when I saw the body of the car emerge, trunk first, with water gushing out of it in torrents. I raised a trembling hand to my mouth, aghast and stunned stiff by the sight. They left it suspended over the lake for the longest while as water continued to drain from it, taunting me with the hovering imagery. I thought the water would never stop, but despite how disturbing the scene was, I couldn't tear my eyes away from it. I couldn't move. I couldn't talk. I couldn't cry. I almost couldn't breathe as the distension of my thumping heart twisted my lungs again. I was completely shell shocked.

I knew I would never forget that image of the white and blue squad car, crumpled at the front, hanging nose down over the water as the water drained free. An officer came up behind me, put his arm around my shoulders and tried to turn me away. Some members of the Forks Police Station heard the news and drove down to the site after my name was reported through the airwaves as the only survivor.

I heard voices around me and I felt people touching me, but nothing registered, and nothing made it through the staggering wall of shock that had erected itself around me.

"Bella," a familiar voice said. I knew him. He worked with Charlie and he was his friend, Waylon Forge. "Maybe you should sit in the ambulance until things settle down. I don't think you should be looking at this."

He was referring to my dead father's car with my dead parents still inside. I shrugged out of his hold and took a step away from him. I had to see it with my own eyes, because this wasn't something I wanted to have to wonder about or come to my own conclusions about. It wasn't something I wanted to have to sit around and torture myself with for the rest of my life. I wanted to see everything so that I wouldn't have questions. I needed to see them when they got out of the car, just so that I'd see with my own eyes that they really _were_ dead and that they weren't coming back to me. I needed to see Renee and the hand that had clutched my ankle down there. I needed the closure, no matter how sick it might have seemed.

Waylon tried to hold me again but I flashed him an angry glare and he backed off. An hour later, after the fire department got a few of the trees cut down and moved out of the way, the squad car was set down on the high bank and Charlie and Renee were cut out of the car. A crowd of mostly tourists developed and the cops were trying to fan them off. They also tried to get _me_ out of the way and tried to convince me that I shouldn't be looking at the scene, but I wouldn't budge. I only wrapped myself tighter in the blanket around my shoulders and stood firmly in place. I felt at odds with myself, riddled with shock and confused by the mystery of the person that had saved me and then ran away.

"Isabella Swan?" An officer asked. "If it's okay, I have a few questions to ask. Do you think you can handle it right now?"

I continued to stare at the wreckage in silence as the bodies of my parents were pulled from the cut open wreck.

"Isabella?"

"Yes," I uttered, swallowing against the soreness in my throat.

"I'm sorry," the man continued. "But….how did you manage to get out of the car? And up here?"

I blinked into space, frowned and took a deep breath.

_What should I say and how the hell would I explain it?_

It sounded crazy even to me.

"I was pulled out," I answered, in a scratchy voice.

"Excuse me?" The officer queried. I nodded dimly and wrapped my arms around myself tighter, staring at my parents bodies, side by side on the ground. They were always together, now even in death.

"I was pulled out," I repeated.

"By who?" He asked and I could hear the disbelief in his voice. He even turned around and looked over his shoulder, confused.

"I don't know," I answered. "Someone was down there. He got me out and put me up on the bank. Then he left."

"Left?"

I nodded.

"Did you see who it was? Did you get his name….."

"No." I cut him off blandly. "It was too dark and he didn't say much. When you guys got closer, he left."

"But…one of the back windows of the car is missing, through where I assumed _you_ swam out and up to the surface. But how did you get up here? That's a pretty shifty cliff to climb."

"No," I grunted sharply. "I didn't swim out, I was _pulled_ out. I wasn't conscious when I hit the surface. He broke the window and I passed out after he pulled me through it. When I woke up, I was already up here. I didn't do any of it."

"Wait a minute…so you're saying that, you don't know _how_ you got up here except that some mysterious person got you out of the car, put you here and then left you without saying who he was."

"Correct."

"Oook…."

Waylon came to my side then, put his arm around my shoulders and grunted something under his breath to the questioning cop.

"Sure, I'll give her a while but I'll have to talk to her sooner or later, Waylon."

"Later is better," Waylon said, and I appreciated it.

"Hey kid," he said to me, squeezing my shoulder gently. "How's about we get you inside somewhere so that you can get cleaned up and have something to eat."

"Eat?" I raised my eyebrows and glanced up at him incredulously. "No thank you."

Again, I walked out of his hold and let my leaden feet take me to Charlie and Renee.

"Bella, that's not a good idea."

But still I kept walking. They couldn't keep me away. I wasn't hysterical or out of control and I had been a part of that accident. Those were my parents on the floor and I had every right to see them.

Their faces were discoloured and ghastly, and their skin looked waterlogged. Charlie's face was almost unrecognizable as the side of his head was gashed open by the glass from his window. His eyes were closed and I wondered if he had woken up at any point and realized what was happening. His lower body was crumpled and twisted out of shape and I knew it was because he had been crushed by the dashboard.

My eyelids started to burn.

"We think he died on impact," Waylon said softly, from behind me. "So you know, he wouldn't have felt any of it. _Jesus..." _

It was hard to look at so it was no wonder they were all trying to turn me away. I looked at Renee next. The image of her face I knew would haunt me forever. Her eyes were still open and her face was distorted in a mask of terror so sickening that I had to close my eyes momentarily and turn away. She was alive in that car, having awakened at some point. I didn't know if it was before or after me but I knew she struggled for a while and tried to free herself until she found my dangling foot by accident. That expression on her face would have been the last thing she felt before she died and I knew it because I had felt it too; fright, panic, desperation and hysteria. She was screaming through her eyes, _"Oh my God! I'm not ready to die!"_

My tears finally broke through and ran down my cheeks, and my nostrils flared in a violent attempt to control it.

"Let's go," Waylon said, turning me toward him. "I think you've had enough."

"Wait." I sniffled and averted my teary gaze toward the car. "There's something I need to see first."

He frowned with a nod and let me walk to the car alone. I went straight to the back window and looked inside. The seat belt that had me trapped was torn in the middle and one side was still snapped into the buckle. I shook my head and bit down on my bottom lip as the memory of my rescuer's silhouette flashed through my mind again.

I ran my fingers against the window frame and felt the smooth edges where there was no evidence of broken glass. That window was turned up before the crash. All the windows in the car were. Renee hated it when the windows were down in the summer because the breeze messed with her hair so Charlie had the AC on, on low blast.

I remembered the loud sound I had heard in the water just before I was torn from the seatbelt. And I was sure that it was the sound of the window being smashed, because immediately after ward I had felt his arm grab me swiftly around my waist and pull me free. I ran my fingers over my chest then, feeling the sore spot where the seatbelt broke against me, then turned to the spot between the trees where I saw him disappear.

I left with Waylon after that and headed back to Forks. My trip to Seattle was postponed for another few days, or maybe indefinitely. At the time I didn't know.

A little over three years later, I was a new senior in SU. I had chosen to leave Forks after all to continue with my plans for college. The last thing I needed was to be trapped in the town and house that belonged to my dead parents, amidst their ghosts and the town's growing suspicions of my insanity. I had stayed true to my story about my rescuer, except the part about when I thought I saw wings. That part I kept to myself. No one believed my story of course. The explanation they conjured to pacify themselves was that my trauma blocked out parts of my experience; that I couldn't remember freeing myself because I didn't want to.

Others said that I had gone crazy with shock and grief, and of course, it didn't help that no stranger ever came forward to claim his place in my story. So, as far as everyone was concerned, he was only a rumour, a figment of my imagination at best, and he didn't exist. Not even the evidence of the torn seatbelt in the back seat of the car helped my case. Their deduction for that one was that in cases of extremity, adrenaline can give a person super human strength.

_Right...because I fucking ripped my way through that seatbelt myself. _

Leaving all of that behind immediately after my parents' funeral was the best thing I did. Even though the nightmares and memories followed me, at least there was enough noise and distractions in Seattle to keep me distracted, more so than in Forks. A few weeks later their funeral, the proceeds from both Charlie and Renee's life insurance policies were mailed to me on campus in cheque form.

I used a little of it to buy myself a car and the rest I put in the bank to help pay for tuition until I graduated. I didn't like the idea of using the money to pay for rent too, so I got a job on campus in the admissions office. On weekends I also worked as a bar tender at Barca, a hotspot on 11th Avenue, not too far from campus. I purposely sought out crowded and busy places to work, so that I wouldn't have to succumb to the attack of my still fresh memories. They were most torturous in the stillness of quiet, recurrent, merciless, and intent on finishing the job the water hadn't.

The morning of October 29th was no different than any other. Just before dawn I shot up in bed, clutching my covers to my chest, sweaty as usual and gasping for air. My eyes did a frantic scan of my bedroom and the moment I realized where I was and that I was alive, I forced the image of Renee's twisted mask of death from my mind and threw my feet over the side of my bed.

"Shit," I uttered with a sigh, and ran my fingers through my damp hair. With Blade at my heels, I tiptoed briskly to the kitchen careful not to wake Angela.

"Good morning," I said to Blade.

He whimpered appreciatively and pulled up alongside me so that I could touch the top of his head. On reaching the kitchen I snatched the first bottle in the cabinet with shaky fingers and took a gulp at the liquid. I didn't grimace any more at the taste. I'd had enough practice to be accustomed to it and to know exactly what to expect. I'd actually acquired the taste for my early morning shots, and so with a laboured sigh, I put the bottle away and headed back to my room.

"See you in an hour," I said to Blade, as I curled in under the covers and reached out to ruffle his fur. I sent him a kiss then and watched as he did the same, moving to his mat at the foot of my bed. I fell asleep soon after to the relaxing warmth of the drink as it spread through my veins and numbed my limbs. And like every other morning I focused on the only comforting memory from that night three years ago; the glimpse of my mysterious, winged stranger.

"Rise and shine sleepy head," Angela sang over my face more than an hour later. I was definitely not a morning person. The only thing worse than early mornings were morning people and Angela was a Grade A, top of the morning, cock-crow chirper.

I opened one eye and looked up at her. She was so close to my face I could see the scratches on her glasses.

"Angel, I swear, if you don't get out of my face right now I'm gonna kiss you."

"Mmmm." She cocked her head to the side. "Sorry, morning breath. Deal breaker."

I groaned and rolled onto my stomach.

"Coffee," I grunted.

"You're welcome," she said, and I heard the knock of the coffee mug as it met the wooden night stand. "You have exactly ten minutes to drink this, get showered and get to class, and don't forget today's your deadline to hand in your minor thesis topic."

I pushed myself up and reached for the cup of coffee. It was inconceivable to think that I could take a swig of most potent alcohols without so much as a flinch, yet taking a sip of Angela's coffee was like forcing sin onto myself. Three years of making my coffee and no two cups ever tasted the same. Every single day it was different version of nasty. But she was a sweetheart and my best friend and I didn't have it in me to hurt her feelings about something so insignificant. So I forced my way through most of it every morning and as soon as the coast was clear, I'd toss the rest in the bathroom sink before brewing myself a fresh cup.

I practically chugged my second cup of coffee while scampering around the apartment in my haste to leave. I never set an alarm for myself and poor Angela had the gruelling task of getting me up every morning. I did that because I needed the rush every day. I needed to be flustered and tripping over random shit in my room just so that my mind was preoccupied and constantly consumed by trivial, cluttering things. I needed the chaos so that I wouldn't have to think, so that I wouldn't have to bear the burden of remembering. Heaven only knew, the more I consciously tried to forget the stronger the memories became.

I let Blade out to the back of the apartment to relieve himself for the morning and tied him to the foot of the fire escape. I hated the idea of him being cooped up indoors all day, so I usually left him outdoors with food and water nearby. I kissed his head, then ran out through the front door for school. Angela had already left. Most mornings she left me behind because I was always late. She had bought Blade for me as a puppy when I arrived in Seattle three years before as a "cheer me up" present. At first, the idea of caring for a dog was unfathomable, especially after what I'd been through, but the little thing was so skipper and adorable that it was hard not to fall in love with him immediately. He was the best kind of unexpected therapy, and luckily for us our landlord upstairs was a cat lady and didn't mind us keeping Blade indoors. As long as we kept him far away from her cats she was okay with it.

I walked to school every day. We only lived a few blocks from campus, and I enjoyed the jostling and noise on the street. I only used my car to run errands, to drive to work on the weekends and whenever Angela and Jessica needed a ride somewhere. As I was walking through the campus main gates that morning my cell rang.

"What did you forget to tell me this time?" I answered with a knowing smile.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to ask you a really big favour this morning," Angela said.

"What is it?"

She sighed hesitantly and I could hear the forewarning of apology in her voice. "Would you hate me if I asked you to give Ben and me a ride over to Mill Creek later today?"

"The pet cemetery?" I grumbled, despairingly. "Oye."

"Sorry. I know how you hate it there and I wouldn't have asked except both Ben and I have classes until four today and by the time we get there by bus it'll be almost dark already. I don't think I can…."

"It's okay," I cut her off, shaking my head. I hated cemeteries. "What time do you want to leave?"

"After class at about four thirty? Are you sure you can make it?"

"Sure." I expelled a heavy breath. "But promise you won't ask me to get out of the car, Angel, and I'm not staying in that place longer than fifteen minutes. It creeps me out. Ever saw that movie Pet Cemetery? Ugh. Anyway, just tell Ben fifteen minutes."

"You're the best! Thank you! Where should we meet you?"

Ben was Angela's boyfriend, and he had buried his Irish Setter two years ago that date at the Mill Creek Pet Cemetery. There was even a little service for the dog and although I didn't attend, because I'd had my fair share of funerals and cemeteries at the time, I knew I'd have done the same for Blade.

"At home," I answered. "The car is there and I'll need to let Blade go for a while."

"Okay, see you then."

Four thirty came sooner than was necessary and Angela and Ben were waiting for me at the apartment by the time I got there. She had even let Blade go for me so that he could get some exercise.

"Maybe we could take him for the drive," Ben suggested.

"You want me to take my dog to a pet cemetery?" I asked in a dry tone, raising one eyebrow at him.

"Come on, it won't be that bad," he said with a light chuckle. "He won't know it's a pet cemetery and besides, you said you weren't coming out of the car."

"Of course he'll know it's a pet cemetery." I frowned. "He's a dog. He has a sixth sense. Right?"

"Are you asking or telling?" He joked.

"I think it's a good idea," Angela said. "He won't be getting his afternoon walk because of this trip, so I think he'd appreciate it."

Then she bent over and started playing with the fleshy part under his jaw. "You'd love to go for a drive wouldn't you boy? I know you _luuuurve_ to ride in the car. Yes? Of course you would!"

He was easily excited so it wasn't hard to get a reaction out of him. He started yelping and pawing at her thighs like the overgrown puppy he was.

"Now look at what you've gone and done," I grunted, on my way to get his leash.

I begrudgingly took my pet to the pet cemetery so that Ben Cheney could visit his. When we got there, I stayed in the car with Blade as Ben and Angela made their way out. I kept us both distracted in the car by taking him into my lap and chatting to him about my day. I complained about my minor thesis topic and about the rejection I got from my professor on the basis that it was too ordinary.

"Too ordinary. Imagine that."

My major was Economics, but I had chosen a minor in Theology at the last minute because of my fixation with my mysterious rescuer on the night of my accident. The fact that I couldn't get him out of my mind, or that he had stalked my thoughts every waking second of every day, drove me to add the minor to my academic portfolio. I knew I wasn't crazy and I knew he was real. I had seen his outline, and I had heard his voice. And I was sure I saw something too much like wings for it to be just an illusion.

I refused to believe that he was a mere hallucination or the psychological result of my trauma. More than anything else, I needed to know that it really _did_ happen and that he was out there somewhere, deserving of every ounce of focus I centred on him. I had hoped to find guidance in the theologian literature, thinking he was an angel of some sort; but after three years of dedicating every spare minute of study to it, I had found no satisfying answers.

"Dr. Farrell seems to think I need an edgier twist," I said to Blade as I stroked his fur absently, staring in through the cemetery gates behind Angela and Ben. "Apparently _Fallen Angels_ isn't a complicated enough topic."

Blade shifted in my lap and his ears shot up curiously.

"_Myopic and overdone_." I mocked the professor's voice with a mimicking frown on my brow. Blade started getting restless in the car, trying to stand in my lap and scratch on the glass to get out.

"What's the matter?" I frowned up at him as I tried to steady him. "Sit down, boy. You aren't the lightest puppy."

But he wouldn't stop. He continued scratching at the glass, whimpering and making it virtually impossible to sit comfortably underneath him.

"Fine," I grunted as I wrapped his leash around my wrist and opened the door. "We can stand out there for a little while but then we're coming back in. Five minutes."

He barely allowed me to close the car door behind me. The moment I stepped out he took off into the cemetery through the open gates, yanking me behind him at breakneck speed.

"Blade, what are you doing?" I shrieked, stumbling across the uneven ground behind him. "Stop!"

He had a booming bark and he wasn't shy about using it. He flew past Angela and Ben, both of whom tried calling to him as we skated by and over anything in our way.

"Shit!" I shrieked as I went catapulting over one of the low headstones. I lost my hold on him when I fell and he got away.

"Blade!" I screamed out, angrily. "Get back here! What the hell is going on?"

I saw him gallop up an incline in the distance and out of sight. I heard when he stopped because the sound of his bark stop moving. He shattered the eerie quietness with his shrill yelping, making my cringe in all sorts of discomfort.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Angela cried out, as she reached me.

"I have no idea," I answered, scampering to my feet. She took my hand and helped me over the grave. "I knew he'd know there were dead doggies in here. He's probably freaking out!"

"Don't overreact, " Ben came in. "We'll find him. Let's go."

We followed the sound of his barking and found him pouncing up and down in front of a small gate at the end of the premises. His tail wagged in wild irritation, visibly aggravated by something behind the gate which he repeatedly fired his paws against. I ran to him and grabbed at his leash.

"Are you out of your mind?" I yelled, relieved that I had found him easily enough. He was having none of my chastising though. He howled and barked and though he stopped jumping when I grabbed his leash, he didn't take his eyes away from the view nehind the gate.

"What is it?" I asked him, trying to follow his stare. Angela came around on the other side of him and peered through the gates too.

"This just got spooky," Ben said.

"Shush," Angela hissed, with a silencing wave of her hand.

I squinted at the dense vegetation through the iron rails but I couldn't see anything worth the attention.

"What's behind there?" I asked, stooping to Blade's side with a comforting hand on the back on his neck.

"Are you sure you want to find out?" Ben asked.

I looked at the heavy chain wrapped around the gate's latch and the snapped pad lock. A creepy, chill ran down my spine then. Whatever it was behind that gate, it wasn't supposed to be found or else the gate wouldn't be so heavily locked. And by Blade's reaction it was obvious that something wasn't right about the place.

"I think we should go," I said, tightening my hand around Blade's leash as I stood.

"Thank God," Ben grunted.

Angela started walking away with Ben so I tugged on Blade's leash to get him to move.

"Come on, Blade. It's tine to go."

He continued to growl but cooperated with me. Just as I was about to turn away, a strong breeze blew through the trees and lifted some of the branches on the other side of the gate. For a fleeting second my eyes caught sight of something strange and made me hesitate.

"What?" I heard Angela ask.

I wrapped the fingers of my free hand around the iron spokes as another breeze passed and parted the leaves.

"Bella?"

"I see something," I gasped, tightening my clutch. "What is that?"

"What's what?" Angela responded, squinting through the bars at my side.

I pointed.

"Look…can't you see it?"

I could just make out the top of something that looked like an old bell tower with a stone balcony wrapped around it. But what rooted my feet to the grass were the three sculpted heads peering over the side of the high balcony. My heart skipped slightly when I saw the form of three pairs of wings spread high above the stone heads. I kept losing the view because the wind never held up long enough to keep the leaves and branches out of the way.

"There's a building back there," Angela said. "It _must_ be haunted."

"Don't be silly, Angel," I said with a smile as I continued to squint at the thing in the distance. "How would you know that?"

"In one word?" She asked. "Blade."

"All he is, is curious," I smiled. "As am I."

"God, girls…_please_," Ben croaked.

"Are those….?" Angela started to say, with a pointed finger, but she stopped.

"Gargoyles," I finished for her, in a whispery tone. "I didn't even know they had any in Seattle. My goodness, they're majestic. Aren't they?"

"Majestic? Ewww, no," Angela scoffed. "They're gross and scary looking."

"They're interesting." I corrected her. "Aren't you even curious about what's back there? Gosh, I can barely see anything from here."

"Fuck no," Ben interjected. "I'm outta here."

Angela grabbed my elbow then and started pulling me away. Blade was still unsettled. He was antsy and irritated and couldn't stay put. I lost the view again when the branches fell back in place.

"Bella," Angela cautioned, pulling at my elbow. "Forget about it. The gate is locked anyway. It's obviously private property beyond that point."

By the time we made it back to the car, the sky had started getting dark and the temperature had dropped considerably.

"Geez," Ben said in relief as we drove away. "Thank God I only do this once a year."

"Why do you do it if you hate it so much?" I asked.

"Because I miss the mutt and I still love him. And I don't go beyond his spot when I'm there."

"Gargoyles," I said, out loud. "With wings. I've never actually seen a real one before today. I wish I could have gotten closer."

"What the hell for?" Angela shrieked from the back seat next to Blade. "Bella…I hope you're not thinking of going back there and trying to get close to that place. I won't let you."

But the seed of interest was already planted, and already, the vision of their wings was embedded in my mind. I could deny that it reminded me of my rescuer from three years before. And the strange, mysterious sense of illusion was the same.

When we got back to our apartment and I retired to my room with Blade, I undressed and turned my back toward the body length mirror on the wall. With one sweep I pulled my long dark hair over my shoulder and looked at the tattoo between my shoulder blades in the mirror. It was a pair of black angel wings with an inscription underneath in Latin: "_Fama volat,_" which meant, "_The rumour has wings_."

I had chosen the language because the theologian literature I read for my courses was heavily influenced by it. I also thought it was romantic and had become an instant fan of the language though I hardly knew a word of it. I liked the idea of using the language for my tattoo because it kept the meaning private. Whenever people asked what it meant, I'd shrug it off and say it was personal.

After staring at the tattoo for a while and losing myself in the daydream about the almost encounter I had with an angel, I glanced at the clock and saw that it was seven o'clock.

"Here it comes," I said, with an expectant glance at Blade. Right then his ears perked up, he raised his head and let out a piercing howl. That was his nightly routine ever since he had learned how to howl. I giggled and shook my head then went over to him and ruffled his fur.

"Noisy little bugger," I teased. "And that's why I love you so much. You keep me distracted. I know it's time for dinner by the way, though I appreciate the reminder."

I squatted next to him then and stroked his back from his head to his tail which always did the trick in getting him to relax again.

"What happened today, baby?" I asked him, gently. "What's behind that gate that you just had to get at?"

He whimpered and dropped his head onto his front paws, blinking up at me with his soul searching brown eyes.

"Was it the Gargoyles? Those are just stone sculptures. They only look scary, but I'm sure they're not."

I climbed onto my bed and opened my laptop in my lap.

"We'll get you dinner as soon as I find something on here."

I typed the word 'Gargoyles' into my search engine and within seconds I had a mass of information at my disposal. I clicked on a few links and started skimming through, and what I saw made me smile in rapt anticipation.

"Looks like I've found a way to make my thesis edgy and complicated." I smiled down at Blade zealously. "This can hardly be called myopic and overdone."

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the prologue. It seems there is a niche out there for the peculiar after all...lol.**

**About the dog…we had a golden Lab who died a few years ago and his name was Blade, so I gave him a place in this story. The character will be based on him.**

**Please review. Your feedback is appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 2 The Messenger

A/N: Thanks for all the Favoriting and for the reviews. I appreciate it :o)

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**The Messenger**

_The Gargoyle often makes his perch_

_On a cathedral or a church,_

_Where, mid ecclesiastic style,_

_He smiles an early-Gothic smile._

-Oliver Herford

**Bella**

"Shit, Bella. Are you sure about this?" I muttered, trying to rub the chill off my arms as I leaned against my small car.

It started getting cold in Seattle and even though I was no stranger to the cold, I wasn't particularly fond of it. I pulled my hood over my head with half frozen fingers, zipped the front closed and shoved my balled fists into the front pockets. I blew a harsh, crisp breath of air through my mouth and watched as the mist vaporized through my lips, then hurried through the front gates of Mill Creek Pet Cemetery. It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the day after I had gone there with Angela, Ben and Blade.

With my head down, I followed the path through the headstones and made a B-line for the incline. Because I was nervous, I ran up the small incline to the back and found the little iron gate through the maze of trees. But on reaching the gate, I had to frown. A little suspicious, I looked back over my shoulder and scanned the area quickly, then turned back to the new red sign with white painted letters. It was hung off the middle spoke.

"No trespassing," I read aloud, then twisted my lips. "Hmm."

That sign wasn't there the day before, so it had to have meant that someone saw us snooping around at the gate. I looked around again, a bit nervous, for any sign of people like cemetery attendants or grievers but as far as I could tell, I was alone. I took my hands out of my pockets and fiddled with the edges of the sign, lifted it slightly then dropped it back against the gate. The high wall that ran on either side of the gate as far as I could see was a definite signal that this was the end of the cemetery premises, and that I should turn back. It was covered with vines and moss and something that looked like mushrooms were peeping out of the cracks. I cringed slightly and looked down at the heavy lock and chain. There was no way of getting through that.

"Come on, Bella," I whispered to myself, encouragingly. "What would Lois Lane do?"

_She would scale that fucking wall, that's what. _

"Nothing stops Lois..."

A small breeze picked up then, and my breath snagged in my throat when the foliage behind the gate danced and allowed me a glimpse of the structure in the distance. Like a whisper through the trees, it called to me and gave me exactly what I needed.

"In the name of research," I said to myself, taking hold of the cold iron bars.

With one last glance behind me, I hauled myself up and over the pointed spokes which resembled the tips of medieval war arrows. I couldn't explain my curiosity, or why I needed to get close to the bell tower. Even if research for my thesis topic was an excuse, I had to get back there. In any case, research meant getting close and I honestly didn't think it would hurt.

At the time, there was no mental link between the tower and my rescuer from three years past. The only congruence between the two was their wings. And even _that_ was a far stretch of the imagination. In all honesty however, I had to admit that my fascination with winged creatures had a large part to play in my curiosity. Perhaps that, coupled with the mystifying literature on Gargoyles that I'd been reading all day long, was what spun the hypnotic web of lure around me. My curiosity was the enabler, but regardless of what was responsible, I was certain of one thing: I was drawn to that place the instant I first spotted it. Whether I'd waited one day or many, I would have found my way back there eventually and nothing would have stopped me.

Once on the forbidden side of the gate, I dusted my hands off on my jeans and darted my eyes around me. The thrill of anticipation sent an unnatural chill through me and I had to shake my arms out at my sides to generate warmth. I tried not to hesitate, because already my better sense and "chicken shit nature" was looking for any excuse to go pelting back to the car, despite my drive. Instead, I began making my way through the thick and unkempt foliage, using my hands to part the vines and careful to walk in a slow, straight line. Slow, because the ground felt uneven and straight so that I'd be able to remember the way back easily.

The further in I walked, the denser the shrubbery got and before long it got progressively more difficult to maintain that straight line. I stopped once to break off a twig and pick the leaves away so that I could use the stick as a makeshift weed whacker. Motioning like a blind person with a stick, I swiped my way through the branches and leaves, completely closed off from any view of the bell tower. I was surrounded.

The web of forest was suddenly the only thing I could see; back to front, left to right and even above head. I made the mistake then of looking back the way I came. On seeing with my eyes what I already knew with my mind, that I was completely encased by dense vegetation, I got anxious. A sudden case of claustrophobia gripped me. There was nothing to see between the vines other than more vines and moss covered tree trunks. The branches above head interlaced themselves and created a low canopy. It hid the sky and wrapped me in a shell of dim, gloomy autumn...trapping me. That was a problem because I was claustrophobic.

Since the accident, I'd developed an acute fear of being enclosed in any space with the feeling of no way out, whether the space was big or small. It was the feeling of being trapped that crippled me.

My heart started rapping in my chest and my eyes welled up with tears immediately. I knew I had to start moving again because staying still would have brought the earth and the sky closing in on me. The only thing to do was run. I heard the pounding of my sneakers on the ground when I took off, matched by the short wheezing sound of my breath as I careened wildly through the weeds. I felt the sting of them as they scratched my face and neck, but still I bolted through, panic stricken and needing to get out. Conveniently, a small dip in the earth sent me head first onto the floor into a nasty tumble. A few rolls later I came to a complete stop on my back with my eyes squeezed shut and my chest jumping up and down in hysteria.

"Argh!" I belted out as my heels came over my head and crashed on the floor.

I was sweating like a cow, burning from the scratches on my skin and out of breath. I swallowed hungrily at the air and opened my eyes slowly, not expecting the harsh glare of the open sky when I did. Before I could catch myself again, the shock of where I had landed hit me.

By some miracle, I had made it. I had plummeted right through the wall of shrubbery into a clearing at the base of, what I could only describe as, a haunting frame of majestic rubble. There were tall pillars at the front, standing triumphantly even after the walls around them fell. And the wide set of steps to the inside tapered in as they went up. The building was old, dilapidated and almost completely crumbled, and perhaps that added to its mysticism. The only thing that seemed in tact was an annex at the back, at the base of the bell tower. It was definitely an old church judging from the architecture, the frame of the roof, the steeple at the top and the few surviving stained glass windows. It looked just like something out of the pages of old European literature; classic, aristocratic and insanely eerie looking.

I looked up at the tower with one hand over my eyes to block the glare and sure enough, they were there. I counted five beasts easily, all peering over the high stone balcony with massive stone wings stretched out above them.

Two were facing east, toward the little iron gate, and three faced the north, looking straight over my head. Of those three, one balanced off a ledge above the others. I frowned up at them as I tried to place them in memory. I was almost sure that I had seen three of them facing east the day before from where we peeped through the gate. But now, there were only two in that direction. I shrugged it off absently and walked across the lot to the west, trying to get a view of the western side of the tower. The steeple in the centre blocked my view to that side however, so I could only see the five.

"Incredible," I uttered, stepping over rocks and rubble toward the annex at the back. I gave myself a mental scolding for not remembering to walk with my camera but amended my error by promising to walk with it the next time. There was no mistaking that there was definitely going to be a next time. The place was a hidden gem in the middle of the city, concealed by intertwined trees and overgrown earth. I figured that people knew about it, because the bell tower was too tall to be completely hidden by trees alone. But even after three years in the city I hadn't heard anyone make any kind of reference to it. I had read up about the city and done minor tours in the beginning, but I'd never come across that place before. The fact that it was old and almost completely on the ground probably made it a forgettable eyesore, but whatever the reason...I was glad.

"More for me," I said.

I decided then that the gargoyles were too high and out of reach for my liking. Now that I was at the bottom of the tower looking up, they seemed even farther away and the crick I was developing in my neck wasn't helping. The more I saw, the more I wanted to see and I wouldn't have been completely satisfied unless I made my way up there.

My internal voice of reason wasn't yet convinced that 'curiosity' was enough to push me that far however. The look of the church alone, though entrancing, was unwelcoming and the inside looked dark and musty. I tried to picture what the staircase inside the bell tower was like and the mental image I got made me wrap my arms around myself protectively. It would surely be dark in there because, why would any light switch work? It would be winding and narrow and creaky and caked in cobweb.

Heaven forbid, there might even be bats.

"Great," I grumbled, ruefully. "Way to psyche yourself out, Bella. Good job."

At the end of my long and tiresome mental discourse, the reason for turning back was solely based on the fear of being caught up there when night fell. The very real possibility of trying to find my way through the mini forest in the dark….and worse, the pet cemetery, was frightening.

With one last glance at the bell tower I sought out my stick on the floor and started cutting my way through the thick vines again, toward the iron gate.

I made it back to the car without incident and found immediate reassurance in the comforting sound of traffic and busy people all around.

That night, right after Blade let out his perfectly timed howl at 7 o'clock, I fed him and returned to my latest obsession; researching Gargoyles. The research was primarily for my thesis, of course, or so I kept telling myself. I read about their place in history, their roles as protectors and their connection to the Church. I was particularly interested in how they evolved in literature over the centuries from functional structures, to protectors of the night, to beloved artisan figures. It was fascinating. I also found hoards of online images but I wanted to get pictures of my own. There were actual Gargoyles right there in the city and somehow, I had to find the courage to get close to them to take pictures. That would make my thesis so much better, I thought.

The next morning I woke up at 4 o'clock to something other than Renee's mask of terror and my esoteric need to blot her out with alcohol. I woke up to Blade's howling and scratching at the wall beneath my bedroom window. I sat up in a panic but only because my body was programmed to react that way at that time of the morning, and looked down at him.

"What is it?" I asked, raising my eyes to the window. "What's out there?"

He jumped up and wedged his paws against the sill, still howling agitatedly.

"Shut up, Blade!" I heard Angela scream from her bedroom.

"Baby, you're waking everybody," I complained, walking over to him so that I could part the blinds for him to see out properly. "There's nothing out there. See?"

Then I unlatched the window and pushed it open. "Nothing."

Opening the window only got him more agitated. He started spinning on the spot by my feet, never losing the shrill in his bark. I shut the window again and closed the blinds.

"Blade, you're going to have to sleep in the sitting room if you insist on screaming like this. It's 4am."

"BLADE, SHUT UP!" Angela screamed again.

"Angela! _Really?_!" I called out as I hurried to my door and poked my head down the corridor. "That's not helping!"

"What's wrong with him?" She complained, opening her door to peer out at me too.

"I don't know. He's barking at something outside."

"What? Something's outside?" She gasped, the tune of her song changing as she ran out into the hall. "You think someone's trying to get in?"

"I highly doubt that it's panic worthy. You know Blade. He's excitable. The doors are locked and the windows are barred. No one's getting in here."

"But still," she replied with wide eyes. "Ugh, I hate Halloween. The day hasn't even started yet and already I'm edgy."

Then she did a double take and frowned as she stepped closer to me.

"What happened to your face?"

"Huh…" I muttered, touching my cheek lightly with one hand.

"Your face is covered in scratches, Bella."

"Oh, that. Yeah...it was a tree…branch. A tree branch. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"You walked into a tree branch?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Something like that…yes."

"That's a nasty tree branch, Bella. Where'd you find it? It's all over your neck too." She raised her hand to touch my neck then. "Have you even put ointment on it?"

"I have and I'm okay, don't worry. Now, go back to sleep."

With a shake of her head and a troubled glance at Blade, she turned and went back to her room.

"Don't make me hurt you, Blade," she mumbled as she closed her door.

"You're getting us into trouble." I said to him. He whimpered with his head low and scratched the floor.

"It's okay," I cooed as I bent down to play with my favourite part under his jaw. "I prefer waking up to your howling instead of Renee every morning." I sighed.

"But now I've gone and done it to myself."

The memory of the cold, black water and Renee's terrified expression slammed right into focus then. I ran my shaky fingers through my hair and headed toward the kitchen quickly.

After a healthy shot of Vodka, I went back to bed. Blade was still irritable. He refused to lie at the foot of my bed on his mat. Instead, he jumped onto my bed and curled up next to me, taking the side closer to the window. I didn't take his warning lightly. I stared at that window as my eyes grew heavier, worrying only slightly about what was outside.

"Happy Halloween," I said with a yawn. Gradually, I felt his muscles unwind under his fur and just before sleep took over, the soothing memory of my rescuer by the lake came to pull me completely under.

I went back to the bell tower later that day. It was the worst possible choice of day, Halloween, but I went back anyway.

After my last tutorial at 1 o'clock, I hurried home to give Blade his walk then made the drive over to Mill Creek. I made sure to walk my camera, flash light, pepper spray, tape recorder and a kitchen knife for cutting branches. I took the trip earlier in the day for three reasons. I hated the idea of being there close to sunset; the eerie element of Halloween was present; and it was Friday. I was expected at work at 8 o'clock that night and I wanted to get some homework out of the way first.

I made my way up the incline toward the iron gate with my backpack strapped on tightly, and on getting to it, something new made me stop and shudder. The red sign had been updated.

"No trespassing. _Danger_," I read, aloud.

With a twisted mouth, I looked over my shoulder, scanning the cemetery grounds for any sign of life nearby. Someone added the word 'Danger' on that sign and even put three exclamation marks at the end. Someone had seen me again but didn't bother to approach me. I hated the feeling of being watched, not knowing who or from where; and in a cemetery to boot, which made it more unsettling. It was sneaky.

"Bella." I laughed at myself, still looking around nervously. "There's no one here. It's no wonder people think you're crazy. You are."

I fingered the pepper spray in my pocket for safe measure and took a deep breath before turning back to the gate. When I landed on the other side I pulled my backpack to the front and took the kitchen knife out.

I used it to carve my way through the weeds and low branches. It took longer with that method but, at least, when I glanced back the way I came there was a clear path of cut leaves and branches on the floor instead of a cobweb of branches that had snapped back into place behind me.

The clearing seemed further away with very step and my swiping had gotten more and more laboured. My arm was throbbing and my hands were blistering from holding the knife so tightly.

"Ugh!" I grunted with every swipe, looking for the top of the bell tower through the trees. "Where the _fuck_ are you? Sorry..."

The apology was automatic, and most times it just jumped out of my mouth on its own volition after I cursed out loud in public. I never knew who I was apologizing to or why, but it felt necessary.

At last the clearing started to shine through the vines. The sight of it alone gave my arm a last surge of energy and I managed to cut my way through successfully. Once I made it to the clearing I dropped the knife and bent over to take a deep breath, flexing my fingers painfully.

"You better be worth it," I said, looking up at the tower. My heart was already skipping in anticipation.

I lowered myself onto my knees then and got myself prepared. I opened my backpack and sorted through my paraphernalia. I slung my camera around my neck, put the knife back inside, took out my flash light and set my tape recorder to record. Once I had the backpack in place again, I made my way to the annex and looked for a way in to the bell tower. I walked around to the back but all I saw were layers of rusting metal, shafts of wood, and piles of broken tiles that had fallen off the walls. I knew I was at the base of the tower and I could finally see how large and wide it was from my close proximity. Again, I couldn't get to the western side because there was too much in my way. The only way up the tower was through the inside of the church, so I made my way to the front again and ascended the steps, my flash light held stiffly in front.

It was quiet and dark, but thankfully the broken, crumbled walls allowed a small measure of sunlight inside. Even that after while didn't help though, since the farther in I walked the darker it got.

I also hated the dark; yet another mental impairment from my accident three years before.

Thank goodness my flash light was good. I made sure of that when I bought it. It had two fluorescent bulbs that shone so brightly I had to squint against it. I tried not to look back as I walked toward the maze of corridors behind the giant altar. I trained my eyes on the wide beam of light in front of me and sought comfort in the fact that it was still early in the afternoon. There wasn't much to see inside of there. All the furniture was gone and the only things of interest were the stained glass windows and a few markings on the wall which I couldn't decipher because they were in a different language.

I followed the first corridor to the left and held my breath as it got narrower and narrower. Already I could feel my phobias gearing into overdrive. The space was small, closing in as I walked, and the light only lifted the darkness to a few feet ahead. I needed a distraction and I needed it quickly, so I raised my tape recorder and hit the record button, hoping that the familiar sound of my voice would comfort.

"Okay," I said into the recorder, jumping when the echo came back at me. I should have expected there would be an echo.

"October 31st, Halloween. I'm inside the church, looking for a door or a staircase that leads up the bell tower. So far, I've seen five Gargoyles on the top and they look today just like they did yesterday. Yesterday I thought something was different in the numbers, but I guess I was wrong. There are five so far."

Talking was helping. I imagined I was Lois Lane working on a story and though I knew it was corny, it took my mind away and helped to dissipate my anxiety.

"I'm in a corridor right now and up ahead I see some light. There should be a window there somewhere. Ah, yes, a window. Thank God. I'm in the corridor behind the altar, near the annex. I believe the annex stands at the base of the bell tower, so basically all I need now is a door that...a door!"

I hurried to it and shoved the flash light under my elbow so that I could grab the metal latch. It opened noisily into a large, empty area with many, dust caked windows. With a wave of relief I realized that I was standing in the annex. There was a much smaller door on the inside; low and wooden and looking like the entryway to a wine cellar. I took the knife from my bag again and jammed it into the hinge of the first door so that it wouldn't close in behind me. I was taking no chances of being locked in there.

The inner door was even noisier than the first when I opened it and the sound chilled my blood. I made a disparaging face at it, and poked my head inside.

"Ha," I said into the recorder. "Lois Lane, eat your heart out. I'm in. I've found the tower."

Just as predicted, the staircase was narrow, deathly winding and caked with chunks of cobweb.

"Please, don't let there be any bats," I cringed, as I stepped inside.

I put away the recorder then because I needed one hand to part the cobweb as I ascended the stairs. The stream of light that flooded down through the open top was almost heavenly but it wasn't enough to light the inside of the tower properly. I knew I was in the right place when I looked up and saw the bottom of the wide bell hovering overhead.

"Make it easier on yourself, Bella," I whispered, with my torch held rigidly out front. "Run."

I shot my left hand ahead of me and swiped at the cobweb like a mad woman running for her life. I nearly went tumbling backward when I felt something land on my head then scurry down my back. I dropped the flash light without thinking and let out a scream so shattering it was a wonder the tower didn't crumble.

"Eeeeek!" I shrieked, beating up on myself hysterically as I felt it run up my back again, across my shoulder and down my arm.

"Fuck! Sorry! Eeeeeee! Oh my...GOD!"

The spider was huge, frisky, and covered in thick, long black hair. It left a path of raised pores behind it as it ran all over me. I slammed my arm into the wall, jumping up and down on the spot with my head turned the other way. I screamed so hard I thought I would make my throat bleed. Finally, it fell to the floor when I hit my arm against the wall, ran over my both feet and scurried down the stairs.

I simply could not move after that.

I was frozen though my limbs trembled; cold, though I sweated like a cow; and just about ready to go running helter skelter from the darkness. I pressed my back to the cold wall and forced myself to breathe. I could feel the panic twisting its claws around my nerve, threatening to cover me in complete darkness and drain the air from my lungs. Bile had already erupted into my mouth and I had to swallow it because spitting it out would only clear the way for more.

I opened my eyes slowly and turned them up to the light above, shaking like a leaf and too afraid to move.

"I'm a crazy person," I whispered. "What the hell am I doing here?" The sound of my voice helped again.

It really was quite absurd, that a person with my phobias and traumatic background would be standing where I was at that moment. I was subjecting myself to torture, and my thesis couldn't be blamed. It was my curiosity and stubborn, hard headed nature. I told myself I was getting to the top of that tower, and after coming so far already, I was doing it.

I slid down the wall and felt around in the darkness for my flash light. I curled my fingers around it when I felt it and turned it back on, breathing a sigh of relief when it worked.

I went forward again, slower this time with a steadying hand out front. When the first of the fresh air hit me I relaxed, and when I stepped up on the landing at the top, just under the bell I laughed out in wild relief. Slowly, my anxiousness started dripping away and I touched the side of the bell gleefully, noticing the thick dirty rope that hung through its centre.

I dug for my tape recorder again as I stepped down onto the balcony. Already I could see the backs of the two stone creatures facing north. Their wings were breathtakingly large, spread out wide and dangerously above their heads. Astonished at the feat I had accomplished, I laughed out.

"I'm at the top," I gasped into the recorder when I had found it. I could barely contain my wonder within my chest.

"I'm at the top and it's incredible!" I shrieked. "The view is amazing. I knew it was high up, but...wow."

The view was paranormal. I had never seen anything like it before. The world below seemed far off and distant. The trees looked like shrubs, the roofs of houses looked like toys and the cemetery at the east wasn't nearly as intimidating as it felt. I went to the balcony that wrapped around the tower and touched the cool stone, marvelling at how it stayed perfectly in tact atop a crumbling church.

Then I turned to my friends and smiled.

"Jesus," I whispered into the recorder. "I don't have the words. They are even more magical than I thought they'd be. This was definitely worth the trouble."

Then I counted them.

"There are two that face the east, three that face the north, including the one on the top, and two the look to the west," I said into the recorder.

Finally, I could see the western side and there were two more looking over that side, like all the others.

"And one at the top is...different. He's the only one with two heads. I couldn't see it before but now it's as clear as day. His body is muscular, looks like a large jungle cat, but one of his heads is an Eagle's."

Then I walked to the two facing East, to try to figure out what kind of creatures they were. From what I could see so far, they were all animals of some sort and I was sure that the choice of animal meant something. In my research I had found that the depiction of animal was intentional, symbolic, and stood for something.

Just as I was about to talk into the recorder something at the back of the bell caught my eye. When I looked I saw the edge of a wing sticking out from behind the wall at the back of the bell. My heart leapt when I realized there was another one back there, facing south.

I hurried along the side of the bell and made my way to the back. And there he was, facing south, the eighth member of the group. I found the difference with him immediately. He wasn't like the others, all lurching forward as if they were about to dive off the balcony. He stood away from the edge, jammed against the wall and his face was turned to the side. It was easy to recognize what he was too. By the snarl on his face and the thick mane around his face and neck, he was obviously a lion.

Despite his snarl, his face was softer than the others. He was not nearly as menacing or angry looking. He simply looked...uncomfortable. His front legs were held in the air as if he was about to leap and his wings were noticeably larger than the rest. They were wider in span, held higher and longer. I had to tip toe to reach them.

"Beautiful lion," I whispered, as I stroked his cool stone surface.

"Eight," I said into the recorder. "This one faces south and he's a lion. His wings are beautiful, so big and powerful looking, and I like his face. He's snarly, but his eyes are gentle. Without even seeing the others properly yet, he's already my favorite."

I tip-toed again and was able to reach his jaw. I passed my finger tips along it and even dared to touch his bared teeth, marvelling at how real they felt. His dormant strength shot through my fingers and stilled me for a few moments, holding me in place so that I could stare at him in wonder. I lowered myself onto my heels and ran my hand over his mane, down his neck and over his chest. His sculptured body was hard and muscular and cool to the touch. It was the closest I'd ever get to an actual lion and by the size of him alone I knew I'd never try.

I raised my camera from around my neck then and took a few pictures of him.

"I'll be back," I said. "I want to see your friends."

I started working them out one by one as I made my way around.

"Of the two facing west, one looks like a Tiger….yes, he's a Tiger. Whoever sculpted these Gargoyles is amazingly talented. The attention to detail is impeccable. I can see markings on the Tiger to represent stripes. The second one is smaller, looks like a fox. It has to be a fox…those ears. And the face is slender with a pointy-ish nose. Just a wild guess, but I'd say this one's female. Not that I could tell the difference with real foxes, but something about the sculpture is...suggestive."

I took pictures as I talked and touched them each in turn. They felt the same, like stone. When I was done with those two, I walked to the front toward the two facing north.

"These two look proud. Their chests stick out and they're angry. Uh oh." I stopped to giggle.

"Someone made them angry, and I sure hope it wasn't me. This one looks like a jungle cat too, but different still. I will have to download my pictures tonight and try and match them with online ones. His face is short and stout but wider than the tiger's. The colour of the stone is darker. He's the darkest I think, not as white washed, or as grey as the rest. The one next to him is a bird, a very _large_ bird. Again, looks female, but not sure. Her wings are big but not as big as the lion's. None of their wings are as big as the lion's."

After I took pictures of those, I went to the east.

"This one is a definitely a bat. Gross."

I couldn't raise my hand to touch that one. I tried, but my fingers curled in and shuddered.

"The wings are different than the rest. The others have wings that look feathered, but these are scaled. They are webbed and boned and...ugh. Sorry, but I don't like bats. This one might be the scariest of them all. It's almost hard to look at the face. It's distorted and threatening looking."

Still, I took pictures.

"Next to the bat is a wolf. He's much bigger than the bat and friendlier looking. A very staunch contrast. His wings are lovely. The last one at the top is perhaps the strangest. He's the one with two heads...maybe two animals at the same time? That has to mean something, and he stands up there like the leader."

I continued to take pictures with one hand as I recorded with the other.

"Half cat, half eagle. Exceptional."

I pushed the recorder into my pocket then and dropped the camera against my chest so that I could hold on and pull myself up high enough to touch him. I stretched but only got high enough to touch his back paw.

"Their faces are made to look threatening and gothic, but from what I've read so far, I know that they are made to be protectors. I've read that they look like they do so that they can scare evil away. They need to appear threatening so that they are a match for their enemies. But they are good."

The alarm on my watch started to beep then. I couldn't believe so much time had passed already. I actually felt disappointed and like I had been yanked back to reality.

"Five o' clock, already," I grunted. "I wish I could stay with you guys longer."

I went to each one of them in turn and said goodbye, touching each of their wings in admiration; all except the bat's.

"I'll be back on Monday," I said, smilingly, and turned the recorder off. "I'm sure you'll be interested to hear what I write about you. I'll print the first draft of my thesis and bring it up here so that I can read it to you. How does that sound?"

Then I shook my head.

"Goodness, Bella, you're talking to stone animals."

That still didn't stop me from going to the one at the back before I left.

"Leo," I said, as I spread my palm across his chest.

"Don't tell the others," I whispered, "but, you are my favorite. You're magnificent. I wish I could take you home with me...okay, maybe not, but you know what I mean? Never mind, I tend to babble when I'm excited, but you don't mind do you? Of course you don't. You look so lonely behind here all by yourself. Why would they hide the most handsome one behind here and put ones like...the bat, out front? Anyway, I'll see you again. Good bye."

Then with one last picture, I put away my things and braced myself for the staircase down. The light from the sky wasn't as bright as before and one look down into the tower was enough to hitch my breath in my throat and cripple my confidence. Making my way through darkness toward the light was always easier than leaving the light behind to walk into the dark. I gulped nervously and pulled out my flash light and cell phone. Then I dialled Angela's number and waited restlessly for her to answer.

"Hey, Belly," Ben answered.

I sighed.

"You know, Ben," I started. "The name is Isabella. For short you got Bella, Bell, Bells even Izzy I don't mind so much, but what's with the belly thing?"

"You don't like the belly thing?"

I laughed a little and gulped again when I looked down.

"Where's Angel?"

"In the shower."

"I need her urgently...please?"

"Can I help?"

"No, just Angel actually. Take the phone into the shower. She'll understand."

"Hang on." I could hear him grumbling something about girls under his breath as he walked through our apartment. I knew he was at our place because I heard Blade's happy yelping in the background.

"It's Bella," he said.

"Bella?" Angela came on. "I'm in the shower. What's wrong?"

"Angel?"

"What?"

"Remember that thing I told you about if I die before you, you can have my car?"

"Uh….yeah?"

"Well the spare keys are in the drawer of my night stand, so you can collect the car at the Mill Creek Cemetery parking lot whenever you get a chance. And please, you have to make sure poor Blade gets a bath once a week or else…."

"The Mill Creek….Bella," she cut me off. "_What the hell _are you doing at the Mill Creek Cemetery?"

"Yeah."

"I knew you would do this. I specifically told you not to go back there, but I should have known. Why?"

"Okay, so now's not the time for the speech, okay? You can give it to me later once you get me out of here alive. I need your help with something because I'm about to freak out and fall down the most precipitous flight of stairs."

"Where _are _you exactly? What stairs? Wait…did you go over the gate?"

"…."

"Bella?"

"…"

"You went to that bell tower didn't you?"

"…"

"I'm going to kill you. Even if you make it out of there alive, I'm going to kill you, Bella."

"A little help, please?"

"Describe the staircase," she grunted.

"Dark and winding and very dark. There are spiders. Coming up was hard but I pushed through it. Going down is…..entirely impossible."

"You got a flash light?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's go. Do it slowly and listen to my voice."

I started moving with the torch pointed downward, listening to the soothing familiarity of her voice. She talked about her day at school and about the ridiculous costume Ben wanted her to wear for a Halloween party on campus later that night. She talked about Blade and even put him on the phone for me to hear. His happy yelping drove me down another few stairs easily. The torch helped too and thank goodness she knew about my past. She had been there with me through every single bad episode I had after that, so she knew how to deal with phone calls like this one. I had just gotten through half of the stairwell with my backpack firmly pressed against the wall when a squeaking sound me snap my head upward. I almost fainted at the mere sight of it. The light from the top was just enough to illuminate a hoard of bats on their way down, straight toward my head.

"ANGEL_AAAAAAAAAAAAA!_" I screamed.

"Bella? Bella! What?"

"OH MYYY _GOOOOOOOOOOD!_"

I dropped to my butt on the step with my arms over my head and cringed until my bones hurt. The torch fell again and so did my phone in the process. The only thing I could think about was getting my head between my knees so that I could hide my face from the dreadful little creatures. The fluttering was loud and I felt their cold little bodies and wings flap against my hands as they passed. Their claws scratched me and despite the earth moving shrill of my screams, they just kept coming at me.

"NNNOOOOOOOOO! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!"

When they wouldn't stop scratching at my hands and fluttering around my head and shoulders, I grabbed my phone off the step, jumped up and fled the rest of the way down, blindly. I burst through the door at the bottom frantically, and catapulted into the annex. The line of bats flew out behind me, made a wild, flapping swirl above head then flew back in through the door and up the bell tower again.

I was shaking like a leaf, and only then did I realise that I was crying through my hysterics. I shoved my phone in my pocket, forgetting Angela, and started dusting through my hair and beating on my arms frantically, sickened by the thought of being touched by those things. The backs of my hands were bleeding.

I could barely breathe because I was crying so hard. I ran to the outer door without another thought and grabbed the wedged knife from the hinge. The most important thing at that point was getting the hell out of that place. I'd left my flash light in the stairwell and even though the darkness in the corridor taunted me, I pushed forward, and ran.

When I made it outside, I keeled over and grabbed the ground with trembling hands. I heard my phone ringing in my pocket but couldn't get to it until after I caught my breath.

I knew it was Angela, and because she realised something had happened she didn't stop callling.

"I'm okay," I answered, when I finally pulled it from my pocket. "I'm okay. Thanks."

"What the hell happened? I am freaking out!"

"Bats."

"Are you sure you're okay? Are you still in the stairwell?"

"No, I'm outside. I made it out. I'm heading back now."

"Bella, are you out of your god damned mind?"

"Probably," I said as I stood upright and turned to look at the Gargoyles at the top. "But it sure was worth it."

Barca was packed that night. People in all arrays of costumes were shuffling in and out, giddily. They were either plastering themselves at the bar on their way to another party somewhere, or settling there for a loud night. Everyone was drunk and excited and overly affectionate with each other.

I loved it. The noise and the confusion settled me and the distraction was always appreaciated.

Barca had turned into a Halloween party of its own and even though I wasn't in costume, I drank in the contagious energy contentedly.

"Oh my God, Bella!" Jessica squealed. "We're seriously understaffed for this kind of crowd!"

She was wearing a skirt so short that a buckle on the front would have made it a belt. Her white shirt was buttoned down to reveal her pumped up cleavage and her thigh high stockings left nothing to the imagination. The pinned nurse's cap on her piled blonde hair was the cherry on the cake. And of course she loved every second of the attention she got from the drunk men at the bar.

"You're going to have a lot of sick men wanting attention tonight," I said to her laughingly.

"What are you supposed to be?" She asked.

"Nothing." I shook my head. "I didn't have time to get a costume this year."

"Oh, so those scratches on your face and neck are real?"

I didn't even remember those.

"Yeah, minor accident. You know I'm clumsy."

"Oh, babyyy," a slobbering man called from over the bar. "You…nurse woman. Fuck, you're hot! Slide me a slippery nipple will ya?"

That got him numerous pats of approval from his buddies, and a nasty glare from me. Jessica pretended not to hear him, though the glow of appreciation on her face was obvious. On a regular night, the crowd wouldn't have been that uncouth or loud, or even that large for that matter. But, it was Halloween, and that had a way of bringing out the devil in people.

"Mike!" Jessica shrieked and threw her arms around our boss' neck. "You came to help us?"

He pulled her arms from around his neck with a secretive smile and winked at her. He then whispered something into her ear and shoved her toward the other end of the bar so that she could attend to the increasingly demanding crowd. He handled the middle and I took the other end. Eric ran out from the kitchen then with his apron on backward and an exasperated frown on his brow.

"Fuck Mike, I can't work the tables _and _the fucking bar at the same time," he said. "This is crazy. You gotta stop people from coming in!"

"We're not stopping anyone from coming in," Mike answered in a matter of fact tone, as he poured a shot.

"You handle the tables and I'll hold on here for a while," he said, as he slid the slippery nipple across to the slobbering barbarian. The look on Mike's face was enough to straighten him out, albeit temporarily so.

Eric turned to me then, wringing a towel in his hands.

"Hey babe," he said, trying to smile.

"Hey, Ric," I answered as I opened three beers and slid them across the counter. He stalled a bit like he was trying to find something else to say, but I kept my attention averted to the customers. It wasn't very hard with the way they were crawling over the counter.

Eric was my ex boyfriend, and I was the first to admit to being the one deserving of all the blame for what that happened between us. It was my fault we ended up together; my fault I wasn't brave enough to break up with him when I realized I wasn't in love with him; and my fault I allowed our relationship to progress to a physical level when I knew my heart wasn't involved. It was my fault his heart was broken when I finally _did _break up with him and mine when I couldn't even muster the courage to look him straight in the eye after ward.

I didn't understand his attraction to me during my Sophomore year. Maybe it was something about my sadness that drew him in. He wanted to get to the bottom of it and be the one to save me. He wanted to make me happy. Those good qualities in him were the ones that made me like him, and at the time I really needed the comfort of having someone close to me. Angela was always there, but she couldn't provide the kind of companionship and physical affection I needed at the time. I needed someone to bury my soul deep inside of and a place to let everything whither away. I needed someone to make me love in a way that would erase everything else in the universe. I needed to be unearth and to forget what hurt and fear felt like. I needed epic. And Eric, though sweet, was not epic.

It would have been easy him. He was right there. He was willing, sweet, affectionate, intelligent and cute. Try as I might, however, I couldn't fall for him the way I wanted to and after a year of trying I finally gave up and told him the truth. He fought it at first. He got angry and that made things weird because we worked together. ButI knew that he knew, deep down, that I wasn't in love with him and so eventually, he gave up. He still called me things like "babe" and "sweetheart" and I tried to ignore it, but I certainly couldn't ignore the strangeness between us.

He slung his towel over his shoulder when I didn't respond to him the way he wanted and stormed into the kitchen behind us. Sadly, I forgot about him even as he was standing there.

A whistle from Mike drew my eyes toward his exchange with Jessica. They tried to pretend like they weren't sleeping together, but everybody knew they were though we all played along with their games. Jessica didn't go to SU with me. She went to a community college nearby and we had befriended each other since I started working at Barca. She was wild and fun and an excellent filler when things got quiet around me.

That night I mixed drinks like crazy. Orders were sliding over the counter, spilling everywhere, and I had mounds of money stuffed into the pockets of my apron.

"Bottoms up!" Jessica grinned and held a shot glass over my face. I held my head back without protest and allowed her to pour the concoction down my throat. I swallowed it and took the cash being shoved in my face from a guy who had just gotten his beer on tap.

"What is it?" Jessica asked with a mischievous grin, shouting over the music. "Guess the drink!"

"AK-47," I answered.

"How the fuck did you know that?"

"I'd know Vodka and Tequila in my sleep." I laughed honestly. "Besides, the cola sold you out."

"You're disgusting."

"I'm a bartender. How can I not get it?"

"Mike always gets them wrong."

"Mike likes humouring you."

I stuffed another few bills into my pockets and ran a towel down the length of the counter to wipe away the spillage. When I had gotten down to the end I looked up to take another order when a pair of eyes drew me in from a table near the door. Our eyes met but when I felt his peculiar, magnetic pull cling to my orbs I looked away quickly and blinked into the face of the girl who was trying to order. I looked at the girl and saw her lips moving. I heard her voice say something to me but the feel of the stranger's unbreakable stare, on the periphery of my consciousness, blot her out easily.

My eyes shifted back to his involuntarily and for a moments, he was all I could look at.

He was serious with his thick, dark eyebrows pinned together over his brooding stare. His hair was longish and his eyes were direct, holding mine with such focus that my heart skipped out of rhythm. It wasn't a friendly stare; not in the least. He was however, concerned looking.

I heard the girl again, talking and trying to get my attention, but all I could do was return the stare of the stranger who did nothing to break our eye contact. He was sitting alone on a two-seater table with his long black cloak opened at his sides and his dark copper hair falling into his eyes. His hair struck me. It wasn't messy, though it wasn't tame either. It was longish, unkempt and framed his face so that it was all you wanted to look at. He wasn't concerned about his hair though, not in the least. He didn't seem the type to ever be concerned about a thing like hair.

His expression was locked and his features were chiselled, bound tightly under the clenching pressure of his jaw. His skin was pale and perfectly smooth, but despite that, he spat harshness. There was absolutely nothing soft about him or his demeanour. His heavy brow cast an unyielding shadow over his face and because he was some distance away, I couldn't see the colour of his eyes.

I sensed it as we stared at each other silently, that something was different about him. And just as that impenetrable vibe sunk into me, I shifted uncomfortably and tore my eyes from his. The girl was still there, peeved and still trying to place her order.

"I'm sorry," I fumbled. "What do you want again?"

"A _fucking _blow job," she said dryly.

"Excuse me?"

She widened her eyes and threw her hands up in the air.

"Oh, right," I muttered, gearing into action. "One blow job coming right up."

I moved my numbed legs to the centre of the bar and tried to concentrate on mixing the drink.

At every opportunity I found a reason to go back to the end of the counter, to see if he was still there. And every time I went there I saw him, sitting by himself with an abstract expression on his face, doing nothing in particular. He knew every time I looked at him because he would turn his face and look right back at me, unmoving, chilling...

He never flinched or looked perturbed by my reaction to him either. He just sat there and held the weight of my eyes quietly, making me the first to break our connection each time.

I started losing my focus at the bar.

"Who's the hottie?" Jessica asked, startling me out of my trance.

"What?"

"The hottie at 11 o'clock. He can't stop staring at you. He's gorgeous. You know him?"

"If you're referring to the super weird guy in the corner over there…no, I don't know him. I've never seen him before. He keeps staring at me and it's kind of freaking me out."

"So, are you going to take him a drink?"

"What? No! He hasn't ordered any," I answered, shaking my head and wiping furiously at the counter.

"I think the counter's clean, Bella."

"I can't leave the bar," I snapped at her, feeling the pressure already.

She laughed at me and took the towel from my hands.

"I'll handle the bar. Take him a drinks menu and see what he wants."

I looked at her incredulously, then glanced in the direction where he was sitting. The crowd had moved in and blocked my view of him so I couldn't see him any more.

"It's too crowded. I can't leave the bar. What about Mike?"

We both glanced at Mike on the other end, reeling out drinks like a wind up toy.

"It takes less than a minute to get a drink order, Bella. Go get it, then come back."

"Shit." I exhaled nervously and grabbed a menu off the counter.

"What the fuck are you so nervous about?" She laughed at me. "He's just a dude!"

I scowled at her and bit down on my lip.

"This is stupid, Jess. Since when do I go up to guys and…."

"You're-taking-his-order," she said, with mocking emphasis on each word. "Not offering him sex on a platter. It's fine."

"But, I don't want to be...obvious."

"Fuck it," she said and grabbed the menu from me. "I'll take him the damned menu myself. No sense wasting such a hot piece of ass…."

"I'll do it," I said, snatching the menu from her quickly. "You're so crass."

Then she blew me a kiss and shoved me forward.

"Don't forget to bend over," she said with a giggle and swatted my butt with the towel as I walked away.

I walked around the bar and headed toward his table with my eyes aimed everywhere except in his direction. I felt my face burn two shades of red hotter and my feet felt unstable on the floor.

_You're just doing your job_, I told myself. _Taking an order is normal. Just-act-normal._

As I was about to step up to his table I raised my eyes and realized that he wasn't there any more. I stalled on the spot, a little confused and a lot disappointed, then turned to head back to the bar. That's when I saw him through the glass window.

He was standing outside on the side walk with his hands loosely in his coat pockets, looking at me again. Just like before, he was serene and unmoving, and perfectly still. It raised my pores. I was both uncomfortable and drawn to him at the same time, so much that I took a hesitant step toward the door to see if he wanted to talk. But when I stepped forward, he mirrored my movement with a step backward. My heart stopped.

What was this?

I was baffled. This was the oddest kind of human interaction I'd ever had, without even interacting at all. I would have easily chalked it up to a Halloween gimmick but he didn't look like he was playing. He was too serious, bothered even, and obviously there for a reason. And it irked me to think that the reason might have had something to do with me. I should have been flagrantly suspicious of him. He looked dangerous, and exuded a kind of wraith like energy that raised my pores and shifted my centre drastically. Still, his eyes were deep and calm, like the eye of the storm in his aura. Suddenly, I found myself wanting to know him, or at the very least, what his visit was about.

I took another step forward then and he did just like he did before. He took another step backward, only this time, he shook his head in warning, to tell me no.

I could tell that he wanted to communicate, but for some reason he didn't want to get close to me.

"Who are you?" I whispered to myself, and my heart almost gave up on me when he smiled.

He couldn't have heard me, but I figured that he saw my lips move and guessed that I was talking to him. His silent, mysterious smile effectively knotted my stomach and rooted me to the spot.

The only thing I could think to do was shrug questioningly to let him know that I was confused. That's when he took one of his hands out from its pocket and pointed through the glass to the table where he was sitting before. I looked as he wanted me to and saw a small envelope on the table top. Then when I turned back to look at him again, he was gone.

I went into action immediately. I hurried to the table, snatched the envelope and tore it open.

"Bella!" Mike called over the noise. "Bella!"

Annoyed at the interruption, I shoved the envelope inside my shirt pocket and pushed through the crowd back to the bar.

"What the hell were you doing, Bella?" Mike shrieked. "We're swamped and you're standing over there like a zombie!"

"Okay! Alright! I'm here! Sorry!"

I swore that envelope was burning through my shirt against my breast. I was dying to open it but the drink orders were flying at me at break neck speed. I did the best I could. I mixed. I shook. I poured. I opened, and I shoved money in my pockets. When I couldn't take it any more I ran to cash register and off loaded all the money in my pockets then grabbed onto Mike's elbow.

"I _really_ have to pee," I exclaimed.

"Oh for crying out loud!" He yelled. "Hurry up!"

I ran through the back of the bar, through all the steaming chaos in the kitchen and locked myself in the staff toilets. Feverishly, and with unsteady fingers, I tore at the envelope. A small metal clasp fell into my hand as soon as I opened it. I stared at it dumbly for a few seconds and turned it around in my palm. After sniffing it, I raised an eyebrow and peeked into the envelope again and found a folded piece of paper inside. It read:

_"Danger is imminent, and coming tonight. It is imperative that you keep this on your body at all times, where it is out of sight. It is the stone of Selenite and it will protect you. Please take heed and speak of this to no one."_

With a staggering breath and trembling fingers I opened the clasp to find a whitish, powdery dust inside. For the better part of a minute I was stunned into immobility, bewildered. What did this mean? Who was he? And what in heaven's name was he talking about?

A loud knock on the door startled me then. I jumped in alarm and clicked the clasp shut then pushed it into my pants pocket. I then shoved the note and envelope into my shirt pocket and opened the door.

"Okay, so Mike is screaming his ass off at the front. I'm sorry, are you ok?" Jessica popped her gum. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

I smoothed my apron out nervously, in an attempt to steady my shaking hands and nodded dumbly.

"Mmm hmm."

"You sick or something?"

I shook my head and hurried past her toward the bar, not knowing what else what to do. My visitor had me baffled beyond relief and scared now about the meaning behind his visit. I tried to shrug it off and pretend like it was only a Halloween prank. That made no sense to me though. Why would a complete stranger go through the trouble of playing a prank on me? Perhaps he was working with Jessica and Mike and it was all just a stupid game. After all, Jessica _was_ the one who pushed me to go get his order in the first place. I glanced at her then and shook my head.

Still, that didn't seem right.

Try all I might, I couldn't put the stranger in prank category. He was too serious. He couldn't have been that good of an actor. His aura was paranormal and disturbing. He was different. I knew it from the first time I made eye contact with him. The magnetic pull toward him was so overwhelming, it was almost supernatural, and the stare in his eyes was too drowning for it to be pretentious. I didn't know what the hell had just happened, but whatever it was, it was real and I was petrified.

**A/N: First contact. Can you guess which gargoyle is who on the bell tower? Who can guess the bat?**


	4. Chapter 3 The Problem of Isabella Swan

A/N: Please enjoy this chappy. It's very important and is the grand entrance of our beloved Gargoyles... This chap lays the premise for the Gargoyle world. Please, don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any. It's pretty intense.

I edited for errors but I may have missed a few since my chapters are so long. Forgive any slip ups. Thanks :)

**Chapter 3**

**The Problem of Isabella Swan**

**Edward**

Two hundred years of good behaviour, of fitting the mold, of obedience and loyalty. Two centuries of succumbing to order and staying true to the pact of guardianship through silence and secrecy. I was almost out the fucking door on a clean slate but then I found her, and she ruined everything.

It was the sound of her voice that snagged me just two weeks before I saw the car fall into Lake Crescent. I knew better than to get involved. I knew I was supposed to leave it alone, but I'd always had a problem with The Legion's parameters and that night was the first time I made the inevitable screw up. At the time, I was on the verge of my greatest accomplishment. It was almost the end of my two hundred year sentence as a Gargoyle. Somehow I had made it without living up to the miserable expectation of failing at it, despite my many objections in their conformities. Existence was the correct word for it, because I didn't live.

Gargoyles were not the walking dead nor were we the cursed creatures of the night. We were created and very much alive for a specific and noble purpose; protection. However, though the fight was valid, the many rules that bound and controlled us aggravated me. I found myself being repeatedly annoyed and held back, and the absence of my heart in any deed I performed rendered me a stone zombie of sorts. I hated it. It made me bitter and sub par to the rest of my Host, despite my exceptional gifts.

The night Isabella plunged into the lake was just three years shy of my end. I was practically out the door already, on my way to freedom from immortal bondage. And of course, I complicated it. It was no shock to me. It wasn't the first time I got my axes screwed up at the last minute and sent myself off course. That tendency of mine was what got me the Gargoyle sentence in the first place. There was nothing I could do about it because in moments like those, it was like I was stunned and controlled by another force. It was almost as if I was cursed into damning myself, over and over again.

I succumbed to my inner weakness that night and gave in to the weaning human within me. I had struggled everyday for two hundred years with the blurry line between my human and Gargoyle instincts. As it happened, when humans were turned into Gargoyles, their mortal instincts and passions followed them across the threshold to their new existence. What that did was create the perennial battle between giving in to those human instincts and adhering to the Gargoyle responsibilities. The rules of The Legion governed those responsibilities and the rules almost always contradicted human nature.

Characteristically, it wasn't supposed to be as hard as it was for me to separate from my humanity. The longer a human-turned-Gargoyle lived, the more he was expected to be weaned of his human nature through his prolonged exposure to the supernatural. However, for some reason, my weaning took longer than was "natural" and up until the end of my two hundred years, I was still struggling with the blurry line.

For instance, it was forbidden to save a life that was meant to be lost. We were guardians or the special ring of angels bound to earth. We had the specific task of protecting humans from each other and from the forces of evil that broke the order and crossed over from the spiritual realm. Any incident classified under accident, illness, natural disaster or suicide was not to be tampered with. Each of those cases was considered "intended" by the balance, or as humans called it, "destiny." Altering any situation that fell in that category was wrong and classified as "abuse of power." A Gargoyle guilty of misusing his or her gift in that way was usually in serious trouble.

I strongly disagreed.

That rule of The Legion was based on the premise that a human's fate was determined by himself through his free will, or a decision made in his distant or recent past. Interfering with the outcome of any of those incidents represented the 'trumping' of that free will. It was strictly forbidden. There was only one exception; the case where The Legion or any Host therein felt threatened or in danger of being exposed. In such a case and if the Gargoyle was able to prove that self defense or preservation of the secret was the reason for tampering with the human's free will, it was overlooked. It didn't happen often and it was the primary reason why Gargoyles stayed out of human reach on the highest of roof tops, so they'd be out of danger and safe from exposure.

At night, in life form, Gargoyles were invincible. There was nothing that could kill a Gargoyle in life – absolutely nothing. He enjoyed immortality. He breathed, his so called heart beat, something akin to blood ran through a path that resembled veins and he felt pain and pleasure as was dictated by his choice of life form. The choice was either human or animal form. Despite that invincibility, however, a Gargoyle's nature was radically reversed in stone form. At the break of dawn, he turned to stone, automatically took on his animal form and became more vulnerable than a human newborn.

Whatever damage inflicted on him in his stone form was irreversible and stayed with him forever. And because his gifts are dormant in his calcified state, destroying a Gargoyle in stone form effectively killed him. It was the only sure way. He sees and hears and feels everything like he would at night, but he is trapped and helpless.

Thus the reason we tried to stay out of reach. We detested when humans got near to us in stone form because of the potential danger it put us in. If a human only so much as made a judgement of error, made a mistake or damaged the stone of a Gargoyle for the sake of vandalism, it stayed with us forever. That however, gave us the right to override his free will and do whatever needed to be done to protect ourselves from then on out. So it was that when Isabella spotted us and started snooping around the gate at the cemetery wall, the rest of the Host got nervous. When she got closer they got angry and immediately turned the blame on me, and when she came up the bell tower and got close enough to touch us, all fucking hell broke loose.

I was never afraid of her. I knew she wouldn't hurt us because by then, after staying close to her for three years, I had come to know Isabella Swan a little too well for my own good. Ever since I discovered her in her bedroom in Forks two weeks before her car accident, I visited her religiously at night. She never knew I was there, perched above her window or lurking in the yard below; listening. After saving her life, and her move to Seattle, I continued to go to her because by then I was thoroughly drawn in. I visited her every night at 7 o'clock. I sat on her roof, dabbled in the concrete and listened to the sound of her voice. I listened to her read. I listened to her breathe. I listened to her talking to herself, to her dog, to her friends, studying out loud…..and sometimes, I even begrudgingly listened to her having relations with her boyfriend.

Her dog always knew I was there and he acknowledged me when I arrived with his territorial howl. I responded to him with a calming, whispered greeting each time and once he was satisfied that I meant no harm, he calmed down. It happened the same way every night.

I monitored the rest of city from that perch. I didn't have to be close to a victim to know if he or she was in danger. I could hear trouble hundreds of miles away and whenever I needed to, I left her roof, did what I had to do, then returned. I knew that she awoke every morning just before I flew off to leave for the day. In my hasty retreat I would hear the escalating panic of her heartbeat and the gasp she let out when she opened her eyes. More than anything else, the sound of her fright as I left attached me to her indelibly. It made me want to reach out to her because I knew what frightened her. My attachment grew more intense everyday and though she didn't understand it yet, she was connected to me and I to her in a way that broke every rule in existence; Gargoyle or mankind. I made it back to my perch just in time every morning, much to the annoyance of my Host. In the last second before the sun rose I undressed and morphed into my lion animal spirit for the day.

Isabella was supposed to die on the night of her accident. It was her time. Her father made the decision to drive even after being cautioned against it and both she and her mother consented and got into the car along with him. There were no supernatural forces at hand and no spiritual or human seduction present that led them against their free will. They created their own destiny through the decisions they made and succumbed to the tragedy of human fragility. I had saved her life when I wasn't supposed to and because of that I got blamed for it when she got too close to us at the bell tower.

For two hundred years I watched as humans died in an array of situations I was not allowed to get involved in. I fought with my conscience wretchedly and every single time I let someone die and neglected to use my abilities to save them, I grew harder on the inside. As time passed I also grew more and more abject with the boundaries of my gifts.

I was warned that it would be harder for me than the rest because I was not innately supernatural. My human instincts followed me into immortality and stayed longer than they should have. Unlike a natural bred Gargoyle I had the insufferable task of stifling what came naturally to me while trying to exalt in my new abilities. To avenge my guilt, I sometimes stalked decrepit places at night in search of criminals that were ready to strike. I hunted situations where humans were in trouble through crime or violence or spiritual intervention and tried to make up for every scream I couldn't comfort, every tear I was not allowed to reverse, and every life lost that I was not allowed to save.

It still wasn't enough.

I roamed the world with my Host, quietly relocating to a different city or country only when it was safe to do so. I tried my best to live up to my responsibilities and to lose myself in the mysticism of our kind. I even tried to force my human nature to calcify with the rest of me, but nothing pacified my unrest. I developed bonds with the members of my Host, Jacob and Alice in particular and had respected Carlisle devoutly. Despite those bonds however, I withdrew into myself, became reclusive and most nights opted to roam alone.

Perhaps, that was the reason I ended up with the problem of Isabella Swan.

It was rare for a human to reel me in to the point where I stopped and observed for any reason other than danger. At the time we were settled in Seattle, WA and I had just flown over Lake Crescent from the blaring city. It was a bad night, one where I wanted to escape the screams of those I couldn't save. The moment I entered the small town of Forks I took to the ground so that I could walk. I still hadn't gotten over my hatred of heights even after close to two hundred years. I flew only when it was absolutely necessary and walked whenever I could. As long as my wings were retracted inside of my body and I was in human form, it was safe to walk among people. They noticed me with interest whenever I got close to them and though instinctively they knew something was peculiar about me, they never appeared to feel threatened. They were usually more curious than they were scared and some were more drawn in than others. Women in particular would approach with caution and try to figure out the mystery behind my façade. I never entertained them. There were stories of Gargoyles who crossed the line and had forbidden relations with human women. Until then, I didn't understand it. I was much too distracted with other important nonsense like arguing the rules of the Legion and hating the state of the world.

That was about to change.

That night in Forks was two weeks before Isabella's accident. It was the night I found her. I was walking by her house on the dark street when the familiar words of a man I knew in my human years bounced off her lips and straight to my ears. It made me stop and listen. She was reading a poem written by my friend William Blake in the early 1800's, '_To The Evening Star_.' The sound of it made me oddly nostalgic. The sense of peace it brought me was unexpected and before I knew it, I was seated quietly on her rooftop above her bedroom window, listening.

_Thou fair-hair'd angel of the evening,_

_Now, whilst the sun rests on the mountains, _

_Light thy bright torch of love; _

_Thy radiant crown put on, _

_and smile upon our evening bed._

_Smile on our loves, and while thou drawest the_

_Blue curtains of the sky, _

_Scatter thy silver dew on every flower that shuts its sweet eyes in timely sleep. _

_Let thy west wind sleep on the lake; _

_Speak silence with thy glimmering eyes,_

_And wash the dusk with silver. _

_Soon, full soon, dost thou withdraw; _

_Then the wolf rages wide,_

_And then the lion glares through the dun forest:_

_The fleeces of our flocks are cover'd with thy sacred dew:_

_Protect them with thine influence._

Her voice was soft and she read it with care as if paying homage to a man she wished she knew. She read more after that and I found myself drawn to the feminine inflection in her voice. I went back to her the next night and every night after that for two weeks. Each time she entertained me with a poem or story, bewildering and pleasing me with the way she read everything out loud. I imagined that she knew I was there and that she was reading to me. I imagined that she read aloud for my benefit, though even it were a whisper I would have heard and hung on to her every word.

I visited her rooftop for fourteen nights and listened to her voice, wishing that she knew the kind of peace it brought me so that she would never stop.

When I realized she was leaving Forks for college in Seattle, for the first time in two hundred years, I felt something close to happiness. Forks was by no means far from my perch in Seattle, especially for a winged beast. However, flying out of the city every night in the same direction for two weeks, with a glint of anticipation in my eyes had started to make my host suspicious. I would have had to stop soon. Her moving to Seattle had solved that problem for me, though in all seriousness, it was actually creating a much larger one. Already as it was, I was drawn to her and I knew having her close to me would only encourage my obsession.

Then it happened; the accident that almost tore my hardened heart from my chest. I could have grabbed the car mid air and put it back safely on the road, but that would have been overstepping my bounds and exposing myself too obviously. I could have pulled the car out of the water and saved all three of them together, but again, the parameters of my rules held me firmly in place. I stood on the incline and looked into the water at the sunken car, listening as it gurgled and filled into the cabin. I heard when the first heart stopped beating and when Isabella's started racing. I knew it was hers. After two weeks of tuning in to her like a deprived stalker, I knew the sound of her heart like I knew the sound of mine.

I paced that edge like a creeping lion. My fists were clenched into stone balls and my temper flared. I held myself back from jumping in and pulling her out, trying to stay within my bounds. I heard her gasp and almost choke on her shock. Her breathing rose and fell in non rhythmic, erratic form. I repeatedly cursed all eternity for binding me to a rule that went against every instinctual fibre in my being. Again, I was torn, worse than ever before. I was torn between my will to save a life that was not "meant to be" saved and staying loyal to my oath. Before that night, however, I hadn't had a personal interest in the one dying, and that made all the difference.

I was a flawed Gargoyle, afraid of heights and weakened by the ever present human nature that still thrived in me. I cared less about boundaries by the end of my sentence, and was more susceptible as the decades went by to the derogatory nature of the new world. Hence, my polluted tongue.

I was fucked.

I turned back to the point in the water through which I could see the car. Even though I could hear a second heartbeat pounding furiously in deathly fright, I kept my ears trained on Isabella's. Her first scream was what threw me into the water. Before that she was quiet. Even in her panic, when she awoke, she didn't scream or fuss and I had marvelled at her bravery. I had witnessed two centuries of death with humans. I had seen them freak out and practically paralyze themselves in fright for things that were nowhere near as terrifying as what Isabella was currently going through.

On entering the water, I sank naturally because of my rock weight. I watched her struggle through the back window for a while, still trying to find the will to hold myself in place. I heard when her mother's heartbeat stopped, so I closed my eyes and tried to block out the face of the angel still alive in the back. When her heart rate dropped I opened them again and stared through the window despairingly, pleading for forgiveness for what I was about to do. I couldn't stay there with the healing hands of an angel and just watch her die. I didn't know how.

I broke the window with my hand, cleaned the frame with a swipe so that she wouldn't be cut on the way out, then with a gentle tug I tore her from behind the seatbelt and pulled her out. She couldn't see me through the dark water even though I stared straight into her eyes. I was thankful for at least that. I could not be accused of exposing myself to her since she never saw me. It would have been obvious to her that I was not human had she seen me that night because I had to use my gifts to bring her back to consciousness.

Even though the touch of my hands had restored her, I still used my mouth to blow air into her lungs. She was soft and her skin was still warmer than mine, even after being in the water so long. I tasted her. It was the first time since 1808 that I had tasted a woman and the shuddering effect sunk me even deeper.

When I heard the water coming up from her lungs, I moved away and hid in the shadows between the trees. I should have left immediately after knowing she was okay, especially with other people approaching, but it was hard. After putting my hands on her flesh and tasting her tongue, something inside of me thawed on contact. I fell for her immediately. Before that night I was interested and comforted by the sound of her voice, but getting physically close to her undid me.

My wings were retracted into my back, so I could have stayed at her side and posed as her human saviour, but the other humans were approaching. They would have been inquisitive and suspicious and I would not have been able to answer their questions the way they wanted. What mattered most was that she was alive and that I had saved her. I was prepared to deal with whatever I had to as a consequence after that.

Carlisle sensed my difficulty immediately. My eyes were vivid and he knew how to read me well. His intuition was one of the things that made him an excellent leader and though he empathized with me, some of the others were outraged. Rosalie in particular was bullheaded and demanded that I be taken to Aro. Carlisle tried to be diplomatic and reminded her that he too was an elder and in charge of deciding what should and should not be taken to Aro. He also had to remind her that her own Emmett was up on a similar charge when he saved my Tanya two hundred years before. Carlisle had taken the responsibility of disciplining Emmett himself in order to spare him the wrath of The Legion, and it was what he intended to do with me as well. Reminding her about Emmett's case shut her up promptly; the fucking bat. Her reasons for disliking me were flawed and because it was a known fact that she fancied me, her attacks on me were usually overlooked.

"Edward," Carlisle said to me the night after the incident. He invited me to fly with him without the others so that we could talk. "If I let this get to the other elders you will be in a lot of trouble."

"Carlisle, I don't care," I answered. "I've waited too long to make this mistake. You know how many times I've come close but never crossed the line. This time I had to. I couldn't help myself.…and believe me, I tried."

"You _have_ to care. It's not your choice."

"But I don't anymore and that's the truth. I don't think I ever have, not really. I've stayed in line because I was expected to and because I respect you, Carlisle, but this one in particular….this one rule….you know how it irks me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm done either way. At least I got to give in to my instincts and do what felt right at least once before I die. She is alive."

"I think it's more than that, Edward."

I knew where he was going with that. Apart from him being the oldest in the Host and therefore the strongest, he could heal with just a single thought when the situation allowed it, whereas I could only do it with a touch. He also had special sensory abilities. He was acutely sensitive and tuned in to all creatures and could sense their feelings and emotions. You couldn't lie to Carlisle. He always knew. He could also manipulate your feelings with his mind to sway you the way he wanted. So, already I knew that he was in my head and reading my real motives in the situation. I couldn't hide from him.

"Down," he said abruptly. I was relived because it was getting increasingly harder to blot out the whirring lights down below. He was accustomed to my problem with flying and wanted to get me comfortable in talking to him, even though he hated travelling on foot. Most Gargoyles did.

"I hope you don't think I'm intruding, Edward," he said as we landed in a deserted field and retracted our wings.

"Better to get it over with now anyway. It's alright."

"You like this girl."

"Like is too trivial a word. I am intrigued by her."

"Be careful, Edward. You have the additional challenge of balancing your over active human nature with your supernatural. Idealizing her is dangerous for the both of you."

"We all adopt the instincts of the life form we're in, so we all struggle with that balance. Why am I any different?"

He stopped me with a hand to my chest. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. We experience some level of instinctual connection to the life form we take, yes, but with you it's different and you know it. You have not been able to sufficiently wean yourself of your human side over the years to risk any interaction with this girl. Your attraction to her is so palpable inside of you I can smell it. You are drawn to her in a way you shouldn't be. Edward, I can keep the elders at bay as far as your indiscretion last night is concerned and deal with you myself, but if you put yourself in an exposing situation with her, it will be out of my hands. I can't protect you if this gets out of hand."

"I'm dead anyway," I answered him.

"And what about her? Is your fascination worth putting _her_ life in danger? You know full well that if she discovers the truth about you and you become exposed, her fate will be put in the hands of the Legion. Humans cannot know about us. It is too dangerous."

I knew all of that, and I knew that I had essentially put her in more danger by saving her life. If she found out about me and the other elders knew, they would find a way of ensuring her silence. Either through a pact of some kind or with metamorphosis but they would find a way to bind her to the Legion. Getting into a pact with a Gargoyle was not simple. The requests made usually involved some kind of sacrifice and I had first hand experience with that. Failure to live up to your end of the pact made you indebted and payment was usually with your life. Even knowing all of that, I couldn't let her die. My best chance was to save her then hide myself from her, so that she would never know. So far, that was the only way to protect her from The Legion. I had also banked on Carlisle's compassion in keeping my secret and he didn't fail me.

"What if she found out about me and kept it to herself? Couldn't that work? There is no real exposure if she keeps the secret."

"Edward, no."

"Carlisle, there are humans that know about us right now as we speak, all of whom have taken the vow of silence. It hasn't blown up in our faces yet."

"That's different. You can't classify the Vatican as "people." They know because they have to. We are closely associated with them and we cannot do our jobs without their help."

The Vatican provided the means for our human façade; specially tailored clothes, phones and whatever else we needed to appear human when in human company.

"I have a serious problem with your rules," I grunted.

"I know your problem Edward, but the rules of the Legion are not for us to decide upon and breaking them is too risky."

"Fine then. I will not reveal myself."

"Are you going to stay away from her?"

"I will not reveal myself," I reiterated firmly. He could make me do many things, but he couldn't make me stay away from her. I depended on my nightly visits.

He didn't question me further but he sighed and touched my shoulder affectionately. He then took off to meet the rest and left me to myself.

I continued to say close to Isabella but always out of her reach, for three years after the accident. She was easy to look after because she didn't do anything wild or irresponsible. After learning every thing about her through steady and rapt observation, night after night for three years, I had uncharacteristically and unashamedly fallen in love with the human girl. And she never knew.

That all changed the day she came up the bell tower however. The first day she came over the gate and watched us from below was bad enough. Rose, Jake and Jasper were nervous and Rose especially started throwing the blame at me for her being alive in the first place. Nothing I said eased the tension. A Gargoyle under threat had an unconquerable temper and a human getting close to us in stone form was classified as a threat. On the night after Isabella's first attempt to get close to us, or early the next morning at around four thirty in the morning, Rosalie followed my scent. She found me on the roof of the apartment building, etching idly with my nails against the ceiling floor. The dog went berserk inside Isabella's room when Rose arrived and woke up everyone in the apartment.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her, without looking up.

"What are _you _doing here?" She challenged.

I didn't respond.

"Find a way to warn your human, Edward," she said. "She is not to get any nearer."

"I will adjust the sign I put out last night."

"The sign is not working. She is obviously a determined little thing and frankly I don't understand the motive behind her curiosity."

"You wouldn't."

I looked up and saw her squint her eyes at me. "Am I to believe she is trying to find you, Edward?"

"Why in heaven's name would she be doing that? She doesn't even know me."

She continued to squint in suspicion.

"No, Rose," I answered her unasked question. "I have not revealed myself to her. Her curiosity is innocent and is merely a coincidence."

"An unfortunate coincidence. If she gets any nearer I will have no choice but to step in and protect the Host by tampering with her, and I don't think you want that."

A nasty rage erupted inside of me then. I got to my feet swiftly, feeling the night air blow my cloak open at my sides. Had I been human, my entire body would have been spitting fire through my pores. I took a menacing step toward her but she never flinched. She liked the challenge.

"Stay the fuck away from her," I warned.

She widened her eyes in disgust and twisted her mouth.

"I can't say that I'm partial to your degeneration with the new world and its flaws, Edward. Really now…profanity? You're supposed to be more sophisticated than that."

"Blame it on my human nature," I said, mockingly, and turned away from her, sticking a hand through the roots of my hair.

"Consider this my last warning," she said. "I won't hesitate. I won't. If she gets any nearer, I will act."

Rosalie had the gift of hypnosis. She could manipulate the thought processes of any living thing and get it to do or say what she wanted…..every living thing except me that was. Apart from my healing abilities and my unparalleled speed in flight on account of the size of my wings, I was a repellent. I knew how to erect a blind in my mind and block any power used against me. That really pissed Rosalie off. I knew she tried to hypnotize me in the beginning, when she realized she didn't have the desired physical effect on me. Just the fact that she had to resort to hypnosis after that was upsetting enough. Then, when even that didn't work, she grew a pair of horns with my name on it.

Despite her relationship with Emmett, my maker, there was something about me that attracted her and at the time I didn't understand what. Maybe it was the novelty of a new member in the Host. Maybe it was my naivety, or the rebellious nature in me that she wanted to tame. I didn't know. She said once that I represented something personal to her, though she wouldn't explain what. She even pushed Emmett away for a period of time, hoping to sway me toward her, but taking a mate was the last thing on my mind. At the time I was deeply traumatized and stunned by what I had become and having a Gargoyle mate on top of it all made the picture uglier. Emmett seemed to deal with it well. He understood her in a way the rest of us didn't. He said it would pass and that it was something she needed to get out of her system. When it did, he accepted her again like it had never happened. In my opinion, Rosalie didn't deserve him.

"Rose, if you dare interfere with her," I said, stepping toward her again. "I will have to stand in your way. I have no qualms about putting myself in danger to protect her from you. Trust that I will make it very difficult and that you will fail. I will not allow you to tamper with her free will."

"And as long as I feel threatened by her, Edward, I have a right. And you have no place trying to prevent me from protecting what is mine."

"What is it about her that threatens you exactly?" I bit out harshly. "Is it her curiosity? Or is it the fact that she has my attention?"

"Arrogance does not suit you."

"Stay away from Isabella. I will betray the entire Host if I have to, especially if it means protecting her from you."

She bore her teeth at me then, hissed and spread her wings.

"I've said all I came to say," she grunted.

"Then leave."

She did just that.

The day after was worse. Isabella completely ignored the warning on the sign and made her way right up through the bell tower and got close to us. I literally heard the internal scream of panic from within every Gargoyle on that balcony. I however, was not nervous. I knew she was gentle and that she was not a threat to us, but I could not expect that same kind of understanding from the others. They didn't know her like I did.

While the others hissed and cursed by the touch of her fingers, I inclined toward it. She left a burning trail from the warmth of her skin from my face to my feet. I had not felt her touch before that day. The last I knew of her warmth was the night of the accident when I was bold enough to press my lips on hers. This affection from her however, was unexpected. Even more unexpected was the way my spirit reacted to it, even in my stone form. It awakened me. The frustration of being trapped within my stone walls was never more aggravating. She didn't know what she did to me with her hands that day and the fond inflection in her voice when she whispered melted the hardest parts in me. But in spite of all that was good about it, a part of me resisted for her own safety. She really didn't know the devil she was playing with up there. Touching the others was something next to suicide and she had just given Rosalie a valid reason to hurt her; self defence.

She stroked their wings lovingly but her affection was not reciprocated from within those stone sculptures. I just knew that the second the sun set, Rosalie would take off behind her and do whatever she had to, to prevent her from getting near us again. And Carlisle wouldn't try to stop her. The one thing that gave a Gargoyle free reign to let loose in the name of self defence, was feeling vulnerable to a human. I knew the terror. It wasn't kind.

That night when the sun set every Gargoyle on that bell tower blasted out of their rock in hissing readiness to fight and they all turned on me.

"Edward!" Emmett hissed, still in the form of his black panther. "You did not warn her sufficiently!"

"How do you propose I warn her when I cannot reveal myself to her?" I returned.

"You could have left her a note," Alice pushed through the centre.

"A note? Why the fuck didn't I think of that?" I bit out sarcastically. "A note would have only drawn her here faster, Alice. It would have encouraged her curiosity or worse, she might have brought others."

"I could kill you," Rose seethed. "That girl put her hands on us!"

"She never even touched you!" I screamed at Rose. "And maybe that's your problem! She liked every other one of us but you."

"Stop!" Carlisle rose overhead, taking his human form. "This is grave and will not be solved it if we are at each other's throats."

"Will it be so terrible if we move?" Esme asked quietly from the back. Carlisle dropped his head to the side and shook it.

"We cannot move so suddenly. It will raise suspicion and make things worse. Eight Gargoyles can't just disappear from a bell tower overnight."

"I agree," Jacob said, coming forward. "She and her friends already know we're here. If we disappear now, it might become public and the elders will have to get involved with a story to explain the disappearance of eight Gargoyles all at once. Let's not piss them off like that please."

"There has to be a way," Jasper shook his head. "We can't just stay here and allow this. She will come back. She said so herself and what if she brings others. Edward I'm sorry but…this is unacceptable. You know it."

"She will never hurt us," I said, though I knew that arguing that point was futile.

"Things happen unintentionally, Edward," Carlisle said. "And _you _have personal experience with that."

His eyes dropped to my right side then where I had three scratches from my back to my stomach. I jumped up to the flat concrete surface of the roof over the bell when he said that, grabbed at the pile of clothes there and dressed myself.

"I warned you," Rosalie said as she pushed her heavy blonde hair behind her shoulders. She was the most impressive human specimen of the Host, but in stone, she was easily the ugliest. She was the bat. She turned to Carlisle then and sought his approval even though she didn't need it. When he didn't respond she turned back to me. "You better not get in my way Edward. It's either we stop her or the entire Host will have to relocate and that won't be without complication. This is the simplest way to protect ourselves."

"I said she will not hurt us! There is nothing to protect ourselves from with Isabella. What exactly are you planning on doing anyway?" I wanted to strangle her concrete neck.

"She shouldn't even be alive," she spat at me. "I am going to make her fix that, herself."

"ROSE!" I screamed. "I will not let you touch her!"

"Who said anything about touching?" She said as she turned toward the edge, fully dressed already. Emmett stepped behind her to block my advance with a hand held out.

"Wait," he said. He'd always had a soft spot for me ever since my human days, to the point where not even Rose's advances turned him away from me. With my gifts, I had the most potential of the lot to become something great. He had high hopes for me but my attitude was contradictory. I knew he was disappointed with my flaws, but he had held out in hope until the very end.

"Edward. I understand your fascination. You know I do. This thing with your human was once me and you, albeit it for different reasons, but I know how you feel. I did what I had to do to make it right in the end. I presented you to the elders and I turned you myself. You can't let this go any further."

"That was different. You revealed yourself and something had to be done with me. Isabella does not know anything about me or The Legion."

"Yes Edward, but she was here and she touched," Rose cut in harshly. "If any harm should come to one of us during the day because of her discovery, every last one of us will be held accountable for failing to protect our Host. This makes all the difference, Edward. No rule can supersede the need to protect ourselves."

"Then why do you not choose to merely hypnotize her into not returning?" I screamed. "Why does it have to be death?"

"Because her life disrupted the balance and because this was a long time coming. You saved her life and you weren't supposed to! So she got three extra years. You ought to be happy about that at least. Carlisle was kind to you to keep your secret, but we can all guess what happened because you saved her that night. A life somewhere was prevented from entering the world either through abortion, miscarriage or some barring of conception. You are lucky The Legion has no way of tracing the effects of indiscretions like yours or else you would not have been protected so easily."

"Bat from hell," I bit out at her. "This has nothing to do with your nobility or your loyalty to The Legion. Two hundred years ago you were ready to raise hell against them because Emmett was on trial for exactly the same offence when he saved Tanya. This is about your jealousy and your hatred for me. You waited three years for a good reason to trump her free will and take her life, and now you've found one. But know this, I place no value in the two months of existence I have left. I will do whatever it takes to protect her from you and from The Legion, including breaking every last fucking rule and putting myself to death if I have to."

"Edward!" Esme wailed. "Have you no care for the rest of us?"

"She will not hurt us, Esme!" I screamed. "Carlisle! You know this. You can feel every emotion and intention that comes off another life force. You know I am telling the truth!"

"Like I said before," Carlisle answered. "She will not do it intentionally, but because she does not know the truth about us, she will come often and she will bring friends and the more we are exposed to humans in stone form, the more harm we are in. It has happened so many times. Humans are careless and they are idle. One mistake and we could be damaged, or worse. I am not willing to take that risk. Feeling threatened is just cause to stop this before it gets out of hand and even if _I_ am not threatened, as long as there are members in my Host that are, I have no choice but to consent to Rosalie's request."

"Then count me out of your Host," I flared my wings in readiness for flight.

"Edward, no," Alice came up behind me and touched my shoulder. "Please."

"I'm done anyway," I continued, with my head turned partially to Alice. "In two months I will die as I chose for the end of my sentence. Consider this an early departure."

"You cannot make that call. The terms bind you to this Host until your time is up," Alice answered me in alarm.

"Fuck the rules."

"How can you choose a human over your own family?" Rose flared her wings angrily.

"I have not chosen a human over my family. I have chosen the human over _you_. You do not fool me Rose."

"Can't we vote or something?" Alice spun to face Carlisle. "Maybe Edward's right. Maybe it doesn't have to be death, maybe it can be something else."

"Alice," Jasper shook his head and pulled her back to his side.

"I agree with Edward," Jacob spoke up softly. Everybody turned to him in shock. I let out a sigh. No matter what, he always supported me. "It doesn't have to be death. The balance already sorted itself out by preventing a life from entering, so as it stands now Rose, I don't see why she has to die."

"Listen to me, you howler monkey," she bit out, turning on him angrily.

"Wolf," he jeered.

"Whatever," she continued. "You think _this_ is bad? If the other elders hear about her they will not hesitate to come here and deal with this themselves. I'm actually doing us a favour by cleaning up this mess before it gets out of hand."

"Rose," Jasper said. "Under normal circumstances I wouldn't hesitate to agree but I can't help but empathize with Edward on the basis that he really is at the end of his sentence. I don't know about the rest of you but, I don't want to lose him like this."

I dropped my wings then and looked over at Jasper in shock. I hadn't expected him to stand up to Rose like that. She was like a ring leader under Carlisle's authority; like the mean bully in school.

"Two more months," he said to me. "I can't believe it's almost over and I don't want to see you rebel and go in any way other than the way you're supposed to."

He turned to Rose then. "Do what you have to do Rose, but I'm asking you not to kill her."

The fact that the Host started to split and there were members on my side only served to stoke her anger more. She raised off the balcony then and hovered over us for a few seconds.

"No," she bit out, then with one last glare in my direction she took off in full flight. Just as I about to take off after her Alice grabbed on to me.

"Edward, wait!" She called. "Please! Don't do anything stupid! Think about this!"

"I have, Alice!" I turned toward her. "And there is nothing I can do to reverse the way I feel! If I couldn't let her die the first time, what makes you think I can do it now?"

Emmett was stalking the balcony agitatedly. Carlisle and Esme were standing side by side facing the direction that Rose had disappeared. Jake and Jasper were standing with folded arms and pinned together brows behind Alice.

"I don't want to see you get hurt," Alice said.

"That doesn't matter to me," I answered and shrugged her off. When she let go I stepped up behind Carlisle.

"I'm sorry if I disappoint you," I said to the back of his head. "You have been nothing but a hero and a guiding influence on me, but I have to do this now. I hope that my place in the Host for my last two months will still be here on my return."

"You are not a disappointment to me, Edward," he answered. "You are like my son. I feel your confliction though I do not understand it. Nothing short of a direct order from the highest elders in The Legion will ever relinquish your place in this Host. Go."

"Thank you," I said, and without another wasted second, took off behind Rosalie. It didn't matter that she left first. I was much faster and would be able to intercept her easily. Soon after I left I heard Alice behind me.

"Go back, Alice," I called, without stopping.

"I have something for you!" she returned. I slowed only enough for her to catch up and when she did she held her open palm out across to me.

"What is it?"

"Selenite."

I almost fell from the sky in shock when she said it. Selenite rock had a magical component in it that created a shield of protection around humans and blocked a Gargoyle's power. It was rare because The Legion had gone on a massive world wide rampage in the early centuries and destroyed every bit they found. The act was for the good of both humans and Gargoyles. The last thing a human needed was to be immune to a Gargoyle's power when the Gargoyle was trying to help. Also, a Gargoyle's ego couldn't withstand the humbling blow of being made powerless by a human.

"How do you have this?" I asked, staring at her across the dark sky in shock.

"It doesn't matter. Just take it. Take it and give it to your Isabella. Rosalie will have no control over her if she keeps it on her body."

I grabbed it and squeezed her fingers in thanks. "My sister."

"I love you, Edward. Come back to us. You deserve peace in your last days. Your heart is too good."

I nodded appreciatively and increased my pace to light speed, leaving her behind. Thank goodness it was Halloween. It meant I would not stand out overtly since gothic and ethereal on that night was accepted. Selenite in hand, I made my way hastily to Isabella.

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review.**


	5. Chapter 4 What the

A/N: Happy Reading. I think you might like this chapter ;)

**Chapter 4**

**What the….**

**Bella**

I didn't stay a minute over my time that night. Once my four hour shift was over, I grabbed my coat and car keys and made a B-line for my car in the back parking lot. I was thoroughly spooked by my strange visitor with an even stranger message.

Jessica and Eric tried to get me stay on after my shift, to party. And I would have, it being Halloween and all, but there was a peculiar note in my breast pocket that I needed to take home and inspect. I still didn't know what to make of it. After being dragged back out to the bar by Jessica, my mind and body went into automatic. I took orders and served, talked and blocked advances, mixed and poured...but I couldn't get myself to forget about the staring stranger.

I tried to pretend like the encounter didn't happen. I tried to file it away under absurd, weird Halloween strangeness. After all, I had never seen the guy before in my life. Try all I might, however, I couldn't forget and it made me anxious. He stayed in my thoughts for the rest of my shift and more often than not, my eyes flitted back to the table where he sat when he was there. Whenever the little bell over the door chimed, my eyes shot up to see if he came back in. And every time I realized that it wasn't him, my heart dropped in disappointment.

Shortly after midnight, I pulled up in front of the duplex apartment building where I lived. I hurried out of the car, glancing over my shoulder a million times on my way up the front steps, and fumbled nervously with my keys at the door. I heard Blade barking as I tried to get the key in the hole. He was usually excited when I arrived home, but that night he was particularly riled up. He was scratching at the back of the front door and howling like a wolf on the full moon.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Shush! Stop scraping at the damned door, Blade. I don't want to have to replace it, again."

The moment I opened the door he lunged onto me and pushed me back onto the small front patio.

"_Blade_!" I squealed, falling back onto my butt. He galloped past me and went down the steps and onto the side walk.

"Where the hell are you going? You crazy mutt! Get back here!"

He didn't run past that spot, but there was something on the roof that had him very interested. He howled at the roof top from in the street and stood stapled to the spot, barking and daring whatever it was up there to come down. I was used to his excitability and there were many stories to tell of his wild reactions to everything under the sun, but I wasn't in the mood for it that night. I was anxious and perturbed and all I wanted to do was lock myself inside and curl up on my bed in quiet solitude.

"Come on, Blade," I said, as I made my way down to him and grabbed him firmly by his collar. "Please don't be difficult. Get inside."

He wouldn't budge. So, I looked up at the roof, dreading the possibility of finding what he was barking at.

"Tonight is not the night to goof around, boy," I said, tugging him. "Come on. Quit it. I'm not leaving you out here."

It was impossible to drag him with me. Despite me locking my elbows, digging my heels into the pavement and using all my will power to pull him, he rooted himself to the spot and wouldn't move.

"Blade! C'mon!" I screamed at him.

He hurled himself through my legs then and almost threw me onto the floor again. I was about to reprimand him for his behaviour when I noticed that his howl turned into a strangled whimper. It sounded like it had been ripped from his throat. He hunkered down by feet like he was afraid of something all of a sudden and dropped his head on his paws.

"Blade?"

"Hello, Isabella," said someone from behind me.

I jumped in alarm and spun to face a tall, statuesque girl with long blond hair and cool grey eyes. Her skin was chalky white and she looked expensive, like if she were a china doll, she'd be the one I'd always want but could never afford.

She stood effortlessly on long slender legs and an arrogant, upturned chin. At first glance she was stunning but as I continued to stare at her haplessly, something dark and deviant started to surface. I felt the distinct need to put distance between us then, and so I did. I straightened my back, took a step backward and searched her face, trying to place it on campus or at the bar, perhaps. I couldn't remember her from anywhere though. It was possible that she was a customer at Barca and had heard my name being called behind the bar. I didn't know.

"Uh..hey?" I answered. "You know my name."

Her eyes ran down the length of me and narrowed when they made their way back up to mine again. Then she glanced up at the roof and a staunch wave of aggravation fell over her face. She was uncomfortable to be around. She had a heavy aura around her and the no nonsense threat in her eyes made my blood run cold. Suddenly, I remembered the warning on the note in my pocket and took a defensive step backward.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"What did he give to you?" She responded, in complete disregard for my question.

"Who?" I took another step back.

She seemed young, no older than twenty two or twenty three years, but there was no mistaking that otherworldly and almost sinister effect that came off of her. If I could describe someone that seemed too old or too wise for the body they walked around in, it would be her.

"He gave you something, didn't he? What is it?" She asked again, losing her patience.

"Look….I don't know who you are or what you're talking about…but this isn't funny. I'm going inside now. Happy Halloween by the way, and I…"

"He came to your place of work earlier tonight. I saw him. What. did. he. give. to. you? You know exactly who I am referring to."

The face of the beautiful young man with bronze, overgrown hair and penetrating eyes came back to memory then and my heart tripped over the memory.

"Wait...you're with him, aren't you?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest. "Is this a game the two of you are playing? Who the hell are you people and where are you from? Are you from school? This isn't funny. Halloween is over, okay? It's after midnight already, so...grow up, or else...I'm calling the cops."

She threw her head back and started laughing then. It was a long, high pitched hollow kind of cackle that raised my pores. Either she was playing a witch that night, though her outfit didn't suggest as much, or she really _was_ one, and didn't need the costume.

I turned around and bolted toward the open front door then with Blade at my heels. Even Blade ran from her. But just as I tried to slam the door behind me, something blocked it and almost made my heart explode in fright.

"You're lucky he's faster than me," she sneered, the toe of her boot wedged between the door and the frame.

I tried to be brave, refusing to let her know how terrified of her I was and irritated that I was the target of some kind of juvenile prank.

And how the hell did she get her foot in the door behind me so fast?

"Get your foot away from my door," I bit out at her. "I'm two seconds away from calling the cops. I promise you."

"I'm leaving you with a warning, Isabella, and you better take it seriously or else I promise _you_ that you won't be this lucky the next time we meet."

I pushed the door out then pulled it back hard against her foot in the space.

"Move."

"Stay away from the bell tower," she growled, and I froze.

"The bell tower?"

"Yes, the bell tower. That is private property and you're not welcomed there. Are you in the habit of trespassing?"

"Are you…." My voice trailed off in shock as I frowned up at her in dismay. "Are you the one who put the sign on the gate?"

"You ought to have paid heed to that sign. You have absolutely no regard for privacy or any idea about what you're snooping around. This is the last warning you will get and I believe thus far you've had ample warning. You are not to set foot there again. Do you understand?"

The authority in her demeanour humbled me and I found myself nodding in agreement despite my will to retaliate. She removed her foot then, spun on her heels and sauntered away without looking back. For a few minutes after I stood there with the door knob in hand, staring out into the street like a statue.

Blade snapped out of his stupor then and tried pushing himself between the space in the door. I knew he was serious by the depth of the growl that came from his throat. He wanted to run out after her, but I wouldn't let him. There was something awfully wrong and peculiar about her...both her and the stranger at Barca. I pulled the door closed so that Blade couldn't get through and stared at him, disoriented and confused.

In a semi trance, I went to the kitchen and sat on a stool where I took the note and metal clasp from my pockets. Wanting to get as far away from it all as I could, I tossed them both into the bin and went to my bedroom. Blade was still annoyed. He stalked the base of my window and every now and again he would emit a soft growl. I followed him with my eyes, holding my knees to my chest, as I thought about everything that had happened that night.

"The bell tower," I whispered to myself.

Just then, a sudden and loud banging on the front door made me jump. Blade flew into another fit and went skating into the corridor, his claws scraping at the hard wood in his mad rush to the front door.

I refused to move.

By Blade's reaction I figured it was the girl again, so I stayed where I was, trying to find comfort in the fact that the door was locked. Angela had her own key so it couldn't have been her, and even if she had lost it, she would have called me.

Besides, no one ever banged on our front door like that. It was rude and intrusive and I wasn't going to answer it.

But the loud banging came again. I couldn't get the racket in my chest to calm down. I was so scared I couldn't get a proper grip on my phone in my back pocket. Blade ran back into my room then and all but bit into my ankle, wanting to get me off the bed.

"No," I scolded in a harsh whisper, fanning him away with my hand. "Ssshhh! I'm not opening the door. Stop it. Be quiet! I'm calling the cops."

He whimpered when I started dialling 911 and barked up at me with urgency in his tone.

"Shush!" I whispered, pressing the phone to my ear. "I'm not letting them get away with this..."

"Isabella, please open the door," came a calm, masculine voice from somewhere in the air.

It came through the walls with such ease that my pores raised.

Why did he sound like he was right next to me when there was no one there? I looked around the room nervously, irritated that the strangeness of the night wasn't over yet, and shook my head.

"Isabella, please. It is urgent."

I frowned into space as I pressed the phone to my ear harder.

Someone was at the front door, two rooms away, outside on the front patio and he was talking to me as if he was right next to me. His voice was soft and controlled and hung on the air like it shouldn't have been able to do.

I dialled the number again with trembling fingers, feeling like I was the girl in one of those horror movies where nothing worked, just one minute away from a gruesome death.

"Who are you?" I asked, my eyes darting everywhere. I figured that if I could hear him, he could hear me.

"I am here to help, but you need to let me in," the voice answered.

I wrapped my free, shaking arm around myself and swallowed with wide eyes, wishing I could wake up and take a shot of something calming and strong.

"No," I said into the empty air. "I'm calling the cops."

"They can't help. They will only get in our way. You can trust me, Isabella. Open the door."

"Get away from me," I snapped. "Who the fuck are you? I don't know what's going on tonight but I'm not having any of it. You made your point. You scared me. Now leave me alone."

"My name is Edward," he said.

"_Nine, one, one, what's your emergency_?" Said the operator.

"Hello..." I answered the operator but the voice at the door interrupted me.

"Isabella, hang up right now. I will help you," he said.

"I don't need your help!" I screamed at him, starting to crumble on the spot.

"_Ma'am?_" The operator questioned.

"No, not you! I do need your help..."

"_What is your emergency Ma'am?_"

"There's a man at my door. He wants to get in."

"_Where are you located?_"

"Isabella, I am the one that came to you earlier tonight at your place of work. Please, trust me," the voice at the door said. "End the call."

"I'm on the phone with the cops you sick stalker. I remember you from the bar tonight."

"_Ma'am you _HAVE _to tell me where you're located or else I can't help. Are you indoors? Is the person trying to break in_?"

"I'm indoors yes. And no, he's not trying to break in. He's trying to get me to open the door."

"Isabella, I'm coming in," the said then.

"Oh my god, he's coming in! He just said he's coming in."

"_Where do you live?_" The operator asked. "_You need to tell me._"

"I'm already inside," I heard from behind me, though he sounded just like before, so I turned around to see.

And there he was, right there in front of me, in my bedroom.

"_Ma'am? Are you there?_"

It all happened too fast. One minute I was on my cell talking to the operator, staring at my window, then the next, the stranger from Barca was right in my bedroom, gently taking my cell phone from my hand and disconnecting the call. I stumbled backward with my heart in my throat, and tripped on Blade who was barking at the stranger excitedly.

"Please relax," he said, holding out his hand to me. "I am not here to hurt you."

Blade ran into him and he put his hand on Blade's head, calming him on contact. I stared in horror as Blade stopped barking and started licking at his shoes instead. Hysterically, I skated backward on my butt until my back came up hard against the bed. I had no where else to go. I shoved my head between my knees and covered it with my hands, shaking violently, and unable to find my trapped voice in my throat.

I didn't anticipate what he did next. He came to me and squatted in front of me then took my face between his hands and started shushing me. The first thing that registered was the texture of his palms. They weren't like regular hands. They were harsh and cold and felt like stone. Still, they were gentle.

"I am here to help you," he whispered into my ear. "I will not hurt you. Please, relax."

He was even more disturbing when he was so close to me. If I'd thought he was distracting before, this was worse. I was terrified of him, yet still the gentle stroke of his thumbs on my cheeks and his whisper in my ear made my belly flop in confusion.

It took a while for my body to unwind but when it did, I dared to make eye contact with my visitor. I found myself face to face with the impenetrable, gun metal, grey gaze of the most disturbingly striking face I had ever seen. He didn't smile but his gaze was kind and I realized that his hands weren't so cold on my skin any more. The longer he held my face, the warmer they got, and I felt myself start to relax.

His eyes were frighteningly similar to the girl's. They had the same liquid metal effect, bright and almost translucent. He had brooding good looks and the quiet energy that came off of him was strong and oddly settling.

Blade confused me. He seemed to like the man. He was licking at his feet, and seemingly unaffected by the fact that he had just broken in and was touching me in my bedroom.

Of course, because Blade found other, less alarming shit to get all worked up about.

"You and I need to have a serious talk, Blade," I said, still staring at the stranger whose face was just a few inches from mine. "If I even survive tonight."

The stranger smiled at me then and it had the same effect on me like it did at Barca. My belly flopped.

He let go of me then and stood up to put some distance between us. I did the same, standing with the bed at the back of my thighs. I could have sat, but I opted to shift myself along the length of it, then across the foot of it. I moved until I had my back pressed against the wall on the other side of the room and even though there was nowhere left to run, at least, I had gone as far as was possible.

He calculated every move I made with his steely stare, observing me quietly. It was only then I realized that Blade was standing at _his_ side staring at me too, wagging his tail and breathing happily with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"Get over here, Blade," I bit out at the traitor. And would you know…he didn't obey. The stranger touched Blade's head then. Something passed between them and the next thing I knew, Blade was trotting over to me. I gaped down at my dog in disbelief, like an embarrassed and exasperated mother.

"He's a good guardian," the stranger said with a hint of amusement tugging the corner of his lips.

"Well," I scoffed, stubbornly. "Right now I'm not so sure."

"He is," the stranger reaffirmed with a small nod. "He knows who to trust, and who not to."

"Again, I'm not so sure. He seems to like you...and he shouldn't. Who are you?"

"My name is Edward, and like I told you before, I am not here to hurt you. He knows that," he said, gesturing to Blade with his chin.

"Fine, then tell me this. Why did you break into my house? Why are you in my bedroom? How did you move so fast? And may I have my phone back please?"

"I broke in because you wouldn't listen and I needed to help you. In your bedroom, because it is where I found you. I am naturally fast and yes, here is your phone."

He held the phone out to me then but taking it from him meant getting close to him again and I wasn't ready to do that yet.

"Just leave it on the desk behind you," I said, pointing to the desk.

He turned and rested the phone down.

"Why do I need your help?" I asked, and he actually looked relieved when I asked it.

"Because you are in danger."

"So, spit it out already. All night I've been in danger, apparently, but no one will tell me what. I've had it with all this mystery message mumbo jumbo shit. What kind of danger am I in, and what does it have to do with the blonde?"

"May I approach you?"

"What?"

"May I approach you?"

"What the hell do you mean, may you approach me…No!"

He opened his other hand and held something out to me, but I could hardly see what it was from across the room.

"Isabella, it is very important that you listen to me tonight and never forget what I am about to tell you."

"Why are you talking like that? Like you're...not from around here. Or from a different time, or something."

He shifted from one foot to the next and looked slightly taken aback by my question. But then he held his hand up and skipped over my question.

"I gave this to you tonight for a reason and I am sure you would not have thrown it away had you known what it protected you from."

My eyes fell on his palm again and I saw it, the little metal clasp that I'd just thrown into the bin. My heart started racing again, exacerbated by all the red flags and signals that blared around Edward. I was certain that I had tossed that thing along with the note when I walked into the apartment before. I also knew that he didn't have enough time to break through the front door, run to the kitchen to find it, then appear in my room like he had. At least, not the way I remembered it. That all happened in a split second. And how would he have known where to find it in the first place? Or that I had thrown it away? How did he know?

At first I was terrified of him because he was a stranger who broke into my apartment. Now however, I was terrified for a whole different set of reasons. There was something alarming and offsetting about Edward, something that sent my self defence signals ricocheting off every internal wall in my body. I didn't know how to classify him, or what to think of anything that was happening . He looked and sounded like a man, but he was by no means, normal.

As if he sensed my distress, not that it was hard to read off my face, he took a cautious step toward me and held out his hand with the little metal clasp in it.

"Please, may I approach?"

"No," I whispered, feeling my chest constrict.

"What do I need to do to convince you that I mean you no harm?"

I shook my head in blunt refusal to cooperate. If he was giving me the choice, I would choose 'no'. Regardless of what he said or how gentle he seemed, I was still afraid. And even though he could very well have been the most appealing man I'd ever met, I still didn't want him close to me.

"Don't be afraid of me," he whispered, tilting his head to the side as he came closer.

I continued to shake my head, telling him no, but he kept coming closer, holding his eyes to mine.

"Isabella..."

He almost looked hurt by my reaction to him. I saw the tension in his face and the way his eyes bored through into my soul. I wanted to close my eyes to keep him out, but I needed to see everything he did.

"I only want to give it to you," he said.

"I don't want it."

"You need it. You have to have it."

"Why?"

"I can't explain all of it," he said with another step. "For your own safety. But, I will tell you what I can. Pay attention and heed the warnings around you, Isabella. They are there for a reason."

"What. are. you. talking. about?" I bit out through clenched teeth. "Quit talking in circles and just tell me."

"The bell tower."

My chest tightened again and I felt every ounce of air drain out. The girl had also mentioned the bell tower...

What was it about that place that unsettled everybody?

"What about the bell tower?"

"You can't be there," he said with another step forward. I was pressed so hard up against the wall that my back started to hurt.

"It's a dangerous place. You can never return. Those who guard it are threatened by your intrusion and they will do anything…._anything_ to keep outsiders away."

"I don't understand."

"You don't have to understand. You only need to listen and obey. Please, for your own safety. This is serious."

"But it's just a bell tower; an old, broken down church with an abandoned bell tower with Gargoyles on top. I don't get what all the fuss is about."

He closed his eyes and sighed, taking another step toward me.

"Promise me you will not return."

"Why are you saying return?"

He frowned at me questioningly.

"You said return. You could have said….don't _go _back, but you said return."

"I don't follow." And I knew he was lying.

"You are associated with that place," I said as he took another step toward me. "Do you work there? Are you a cemetery attendant or something? Does the blond girl work there too? What's so dangerous about it? It's only a church. There's nobody in there. I wasn't hurting anyone."

"You ask a lot of questions."

"Well, you're threatening me, so I think I have a right to know what for."

"I am in no way threatening you," he said in a dark, forceful tone. "I am warning you, because I don't want any harm to come to you."

"This is _very_ strange."

"I know it is...for you."

"How do you know my name?"

He was just one step away from me at that point, towering over me in what would have otherwise been a menacing gesture. But I believed him when he said he wouldn't hurt me. He looked dangerous, tall and brooding with the most grim of expressions on his devastatingly sexy face. His features were sharp though smooth and his thick eyebrows gave him a devious look. Still he was gentle and his tone was cautious. I was drawn to him despite the red flags that blared in my head. I had known ever since the very first time our eyes met that he was someone to stay away from, and perhaps, that was the basis of my attraction. That, and the unfathomable feeling that I was supposed to know him somehow. Maybe it was because he seemed more familiar with me than I was with him. Maybe I did know him after all, but forgot. Except, as I stared at him I knew that he was not someone forgettable, not in the least.

By then he was standing so close to me that I could feel his breath on my face. He had an effortless seductive grace about him, but I had to be careful not to fall for it. His breath felt cool, like he had ice in his lungs over which the air passed on its way out.

He raised his hand between us and opened his fingers to reveal the clasp in his palm.

"Don't throw it away again," he said. "Keep it on your body, always."

I swallowed and glanced down at it then back at him.

"Is this a new one?"

"No."

"If it's the same one, how'd you know where to find it?"

He shook his head and smiled.

"Again, with the questions."

"Can you blame me?"

"No, I can't."

"Then tell me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I have to keep you safe."

"You keep saying that, but I don't understand."

"All you have to do is listen."

"Make me understand, Edward. Please. What's going on?"

When I said his name something changed in his face. His eyebrows meshed and his eyes dropped to my lips, faltering slightly. He even seemed to hold his breath for a second or two, and I saw when he closed his eyes and steadied himself.

"There are things you are better off not knowing. As it is, I shouldn't even be here right now with you."

He dropped his face and opened his eyes, so close to me that I could barely breathe any more. I wasn't lost to the lure in his whisper, like a punishable trap set only to entice, yet never to fully satisfy. I shouldn't have wanted him, not so soon, but he did inexplicable things to my reserve, and already, despite my guard, I felt myself liking his way with me.

"I shouldn't have come but I had to," he went on, as his eyes made the repetitive path from my lips to my eyes then down again.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, Isabella…."

"Because what?"

And with his hand, he dipped into my breast pocket and slid the metal clasp inside, brushing against me with the back of his fingers, hardening my nipples on contact.

My breath hitched and I felt my chest buck in response to his unintentional graze.

"Because," he went on to say. "There is something about you that has trapped me and I have no choice now but to protect it. I don't know how else to tell you."

My mouth opened and the stifled breath pushed its way out. I felt caged inside a surreal whirlwind, like Alice in Wonderland, chasing after a white rabbit of reason that was not meant for me. Why did he talk like he knew me? I had never seen him before, although by that point I was having serious doubts.

"Is this my trick?" I asked with hooded eyes, giving in to his spellbinding effect.

"Your trick?"

"You know…trick or treat? This is a trick isn't it? I'm going to wake up tomorrow, confused and baffled with a pocket full of fairy dust. And on Monday when I go to school, I'll see you there and realize why it is I know you. And you will laugh at me. You and the girl. You chose me for your target tonight and I fell for it. Does Angela know? Is she a part of it? She's off somewhere now with Ben, laughing at me too, right?"

He didn't smile, nor did he move. He just kept retracing the path with his eyes from my mouth to my eyes and down again. And when I bit into my bottom lip because of his stare, he let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes.

"I am afraid that your ignorance will be to your disadvantage," he said.

"You don't speak like you're from around here. You even have a slight accent. Where are you from?"

"You are not listening to me."

"You aren't giving me much to listen to here."

He raised his head and I saw a burdensome weight of torture settle in his eyes. The moment I saw it, I felt sick to my stomach. He _was _serious and finally, I realized it. I'd known it all along, though I tried my hardest to ignore it. It was safer to pretend like it was a game because if there was any truth behind the crazy happenings of that strange night, I knew I'd be in over my head. Ever since he first showed up at Barca, I knew. He was way too intense and focused to be pretending. He couldn't have been that good of an actor. And why the hell would strangers go through all that trouble just to spook _me;_ let alone burst through my front door and break the locks? What prank would go that far? And he certainly was not drunk. I knew drunk when I saw it.

"You're serious aren't you?" I whispered.

"Yes."

"I went to the bell tower and someone saw me and now they're angry and want me to stay away?"

"Yes." He nodded, a small light of hope lighting his eyes.

"And somehow," I said, raising my hand to cup my breast with the clasp in my pocket. "This is supposed to protect me from…..who exactly?"

"Not who….what."

"Right."

"The girl you saw earlier tonight. Her name is Rosalie, and she is more dangerous than you can imagine. If you didn't have this on you, Isabella…" he said, placing his cool hand over mine on my breast pocket.

"…when she came calling, tonight would have ended much differently. And I use the word ended intentionally."

I heard everything he said but the only thing that knocked itself around in my conscience was his cool, hard hand over mine….on my breast.

_What the fuck is going on here_? I thought stupidly.

I dropped my eyes to his hand on mine and raised my second hand to cover his. He didn't move. He allowed me to touch him and hold his hand between my two. I passed my fingers over his skin with a deep frown, trying to find the words to describe what I was observing about him.

"Your hands are…." As soon as I started he pulled his hand away and stepped back briskly, as if he knew what I was about to say. His entire disposition changed then and the warmth in his eyes switched dramatically back to its dark, calculating stare. I flinched at the change in him and dropped the back of my head against the wall.

"Different," I finished.

He turned his eyes away and looked down at Blade, quietly staring up at him.

"They were colder when you first touched me, and hard, and even though they aren't so cold any more, they aren't warm either."

"It's cold outside. I came from outside."

"But it's very warm in here and you've been inside for a while."

He shook his head.

"I shouldn't have touched you."

"I didn't mind."

His eyes scanned my face for the millionth time and I felt myself wanting his soft gaze of before. I preferred it to the barred off stare he was giving me now..

"I can fix your locks," he said suddenly, and the mood between us was lost.

"You're changing the subject."

"I am not," he said, and raised his hands for me to see. "They're just hands. See? And they're about to fix your locks."

"So, you're also a locksmith?"

"I know my way around."

"How are you going to fix it without tools?"

"It's not badly broken. It's just….damaged. It only needs some jimmying into place until you can replace it. The key will still work."

I shrugged and peeled myself off the wall behind me to follow him out.

"You're the strangest person I've ever met."

"I've heard that before," he said as he walked away from me.

My phone on the desk rang then and I grabbed it on my way out, watching as Blade galloped behind Edward.

"Angel," I answered.

"Hey, you're still up!" She half squealed, half slurred.

"Whoa," I grimaced and held the phone away from my ear. "Drunk much?"

"Jessica and Mike just showed up and they told me what a party pooper you are. Why did you go home alone? Get your ass over here and have some fun! We're doing shots! Your favourite!"

I stepped into the sitting room where Edward was fiddling with the broken lock on the front door, thinking to myself that there was no other place I'd rather be right then. What could be more interesting than this?

His long black cloak went down to his calves and I noticed the two inconspicuous slits at the back from his back bones to the hem, on both sides. I tilted my head to the side as I observed him, wondering what the openings at the back of his cloak were for.

"Bella?"

"I'm here, Angel."

Edward turned around to face me then and slid his hands gracefully into his coat pockets. I had to get rid of Angela quickly.

"Sorry, I'm not coming over," I said, flatly. "I'm tired and I really need to get some rest. Next time."

Edward kept looking at me, listening quietly.

"But next time is next year!" Angela complained. "Come on! Eric is here too!"

"All the more reason for me to stay here," I grumbled. "I'll make it up to you, Angel. I promise."

"You always say that."

"And I always keep my promises."

"Fine then. See you tomorrow. I'm staying over at Ben's tonight."

"Good night."

Prospect leaped in my heart then and as if Edward somehow sensed it, he looked away. I should have been ashamed of myself for feeling excited at the idea of being alone with a stranger. He was still suspicious and I should have been kicking him out….after all, he had broken in. Instead, I found myself wanting him to stay with me even if only to answer the countless number of questions I still had for him.

"I will leave you now," he said.

"Now?" I asked, trying hard not to sound foolishly disappointed, and failing at it.

He gave me a small nod and a faint upturning of one side of his mouth. His crooked smile was the cherry on top of the forbidden cake.

"Your door is fixed."

I looked past him at the door and found nothing to complain about.

"So it is. But there is still so much I need you to answer."

"There is so much I cannot answer."

"I will never understand this night," I said, after pausing to observe his evasiveness.

"And that is my fault," he said. "Perhaps, tonight should never have happened. I do promise however, that if you do everything I've told you to, you will be fine. Stay away from the tower and keep the Selenite on you at all times."

"You sound like you're telling me good bye."

His eyes found their warmth again and the soft glow he offered thawed me to a puddled mess. His effect over me was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Every responsible driver in me went sailing out the window. All I wanted to do was close the space between us and get close to him again, but when I took a step toward him he did the same thing he had done at Barca. He mirrored my movement with a step backward. Then he shook his head to tell me no.

My heart both leapt in response to his mysticism, and fell with his rejection.

"Will I see you again?" I asked.

"Hopefully not."

Hurt, almost, by his honesty, I pressed on. I knew it was crazy to feel that way, but I was sure there was a mutual chemistry between us. Or else he wouldn't have been there.

"It's not that I don't want to see you again, Isabella. It is just safer for you that I keep my distance. A friendship between us is not possible. We are too different."

I almost said: "_Fuck friendship. It's not friendship I had in mind, Mr." _

"So, we're different. That's the stupidest reason to stay away from me."

"Nonetheless, it is my reason."

"I can't wait to find your ass on campus on Monday…."

"You won't find me in your school, Isabella."

I sighed.

"Look, you can't just break in here and hit me this weird death trap story, then vanish. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

"I don't know how to comfort the uneasiness in your heart. All I know is how to warn you."

"This sucks."

He smiled and I wished that I had something in my hand just so that I could throw it at him.

"Have you any idea how absurd this all is?" I asked, and he nodded in agreement.

"You know, and still you refuse to answer my questions," I finished.

"For your safety."

"Right…for my safety."

"I will never be far away from you."

"There you go again! Talking like you were beamed down here from space or some shit. You will never be far away? Where will you be? Where did you come from?"

"All that is irrelevant."

"Jesus," I folded my arms and tapped my foot on the floor. "You can't just vanish, Edward. That's not fair. You can't just appear like this and completely….blow my mind then just….disappear. That's cruel. How do I know that any of it is real if you just disappear like a figment of my imagination….."

At the mention of "figment of my imagination", on cue, the memory of the dark, winged silhouette from three years prior forced its way to the forefront. It came with the crashing images of Renee's death expression and the suffocating mercilessness of the cold, black water. I sucked in a deep breath, tried to shake it off but couldn't. My chest started constricting and already I could feel the walls closing in around me. An anxiety attack had been threatening me all day, and it seemed determined to get me one way or another.

Without a second thought I made my way around the counter into the kitchen, pulled open the liquor cabinet and grabbed the first bottle in sight. Only after tossing a mouthful of it into my mouth did I realize it was the Vodka. One mouthful wasn't enough though. For the day so far I'd encountered a nasty spider; fought my demons through a dark, winding staircase; been attacked by a swarm of bats; was accosted by a strange girl named Rosalie; was warned of a danger I knew nothing of; my apartment was broken into by the sexiest non-burglar/possible stalker; I started liking said possible stalker; and in the midst of it all my memories from the accident still found their way through to me...

I closed my eyes after a deep breath and took another swig, then a third. When I was done, I slammed the bottle on the stove top, and exhaled, waiting for the warmth to unwind me.

"You shouldn't do that," Edward said, suddenly right behind me.

I jerked in surprise and spun around to face him. He was just as close to me as he was in my bedroom, managing to undo every calming thing the alcohol had started to accomplish. He lowered his face and shifted his tranquillizing grey eyes between mine, locking me to the spot.

"Why am I so afraid that I won't see you again?" I whispered into his face, dropping my eyes to his moistened mouth.

"I don't even know you," I went on. "You're a stranger. Everything about you screams danger and I know something's not right about you. I don't know what it is, but I sense it. It's also probably the same thing that draws me to you."

"You ought not to be drawn to danger." He answered, softly.

I could see the corners of his mouth struggling with the need to smile. His breath was like a faint breeze, cool and clean. He smelled like the first rain on the earth; crisp, natural, sweet almost, and strong. It was unlike any other scent on a man because he didn't smell like a man. He smelled only like himself.

"Are you dangerous, Edward?"

"Being drawn to me is."

"But you told me not to be afraid of you."

"It's not me you need to worry about."

"Who then?"

"Ssshhh," he shushed, pressing his fingertip to my lips. "Stop confusing yourself. You will be alright now."

"But," I said against his finger, and he moved it away. "I honestly don't think I'll be okay if I'm in danger as you say and you're going to disappear. That actually frightens me. All of this...it frightens me."

"You are exactly what I expected," he said softly, lingering on my mouth with his penetrating gaze. His eyes swept over the rest of my face then, and I felt the chemistry between us again. He seemed fond of me, again, like he knew me. And that puzzled me.

"You're confusing me again," I leaned toward him. "What do you mean by, you expected this? What did you expect?"

"I knew you would be adorable and hard to resist once I got close to you."

My insides started sputtering like live wires caught in the rain. I swore that the tips of our noses touched and the smouldering tease in his eyes almost undid me to completion. He really didn't know what he was doing to me. I swallowed so hard I almost lost my tongue.

"Have you been watching me?"

"I need to leave," he said, pushing away from me suddenly, like he was zapped out of a trance. "I have to keep my distance. This is not right. Please understand."

"That's _entirely_ impossible right at this moment," I whispered. "Understand?"

"Then just…accept it."

All I could manage was a blank expression for him though he brushed his thumb lightly across my cheek. Just as I was about to throw caution to the wind and kiss him like I'd wanted to do all night, he turned away and headed straight for the door.

"Keep the Selenite," he warned one last time, turning to look at me through the open door. "If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for me."

Then just like that he was gone.

I was left in the kitchen, leaning against the stove with a bottle of Vodka, a flushed face and a pocket full of fairy dust. Blade was at my feet lying on his front paws, lazily and unperturbed by anything that had just happened.

What had just happened? I looked back at the door, wondering if any of it happened at all, riddled with shock in the quiet of my apartment.

"What the..."

A/N: So a proper meeting...were you left as unstatisfied as Bella? Not to worry, the answers are coming :o)


	6. Chapter 5 First Pact

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing everybody. You say such nice things! So glad you're liking the story. This chapter is special. Happy reading.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**First Pact **

**Bella**

A week passed and he hadn't returned.

I went back to work on Saturday, the night after he visited me and then again on Sunday. I found myself waiting, hoping rather, that he would walk through the doors of Barca to see me, and sit at his table again. I knew he wouldn't show because he had insinuated as much, but I was still unable to control my skipping hopes every time someone walked in through the doors and made the little chimes tinkle.

On Monday, like a fool, I looked for him at school. Every time a blonde walked by, I did a double take and checked to see if it was the one from Friday night, and of course, it never was. All week long I daydreamed about my strange Halloween night, and Edward's face had gotten so etched into my psyche that I started seeing him everywhere.

Everyone was him at first glance but it took only a second look for the real faces of the imposters to push through, and each time, he disappeared.

My fixation on him turned into obsession, and by Friday morning I was thinking the unthinkable. I wanted to break his rules, in the hope that he would find out and come back to reprimand me. I'd see him again and find a way to make him reconsider his decision to stay away from me. At least, I could find a way to make him answer my questions and confirm my bizarre suspicions about him.

For no reason other than wanting to feel a connection to him, I kept the metal clasp on me all week long. I fiddled with it between classes. I spun it on the table tops in the library, and even though I knew it was there, I kept checking my pockets between takes just to make sure. It stayed in my pyjama pants pocket when I slept at night and the one night I put it under my pillow because I wore a night dress, Blade protested. He pulled my pillow from under my head and barked relentlessly until I picked it up again. That was Thursday night.

"What's with you anyway?" I asked as he plopped himself over my thighs to sleep.

Ever since Halloween night, Blade had taken up sleeping on the bed next to or on top of me, instead of on his mat at the foot of the bed. Of course, there was no reasoning with him, and if pig headed had a face, it would be his.

"You think I'm in danger too, don't you?" I asked him as I stroked his fur with a sigh. "I'm not so sure, Blade. Lately, I feel as if last Friday never even happened, like it was just a dream. And if it wasn't for this thing…." I held up the metal clasp over us. "…I'd have thought I imagined it all."

My mind went back to Forks then, to the days right after my parents had died, and to the sympathetic faces of family and friends who all thought I went crazy with shock and grief. I certainly felt like I was going crazy this time around because as the days passed, my meeting with Edward seemed more and more dreamlike and less and less like reality. Yet still, I had this thing in my hands practically all the time and no real motive to hold on to it. I scoffed and twisted my mouth as I narrowed my eyes at the clasp over Blade's head on my stomach.

"Protection….how the hell can thisprotect me from anything? What am I supposed to do with it anyway, open it and blow the dust at someone if they try to attack me? Ridiculous is what it is. I'd have a better chance if I threw it at someone and hope it connects with their eyeball."

Blade only whimpered and blinked up at me.

"You like him too, don't you?" I asked. "Edward."

His ears perked up in excitement at the sound of the name and I giggled.

"Edward," I said again and watched as his ears did the same thing. It was the closest thing to a laugh all week.

"You're such a silly mutt."

Friday morning I awoke just before dawn as usual, and had it not been for Blade's heavy torso over my legs, I'd have fallen off the bed from the hysteria of my nightmare.

This time I was outside of the car in the water with my palms pressed against Renee's window. I saw her screaming and thrashing her head from side to side, her hair floating all around her face, begging me with her wide eyes to help her. I pounded my fists on her window and opened my mouth to scream her name, but only air bubbles came out of my mouth. I wasn't strong enough to smash the glass either, and of course, the handle was jammed and water logged. In reality I wouldn't have been able to see her through the dark water, but because my dreams were constructed for the sole purpose of torturing me, nothing was left to the imagination, and I saw every agonizing moment of her difficulty in detail.

I dragged my nails frantically against the window, helpless as she lost the fight to the water. She turned her face to me with panic stricken eyes then pressed her palm to the glass in line with mine. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head right after and I watched as she died for the thousandth time. I pounded at the glass and pulled at the door handle, thrashing in the water until my own lungs started to fill up. Just as I was about to drown and succumb to the black coldness, I awoke, panting and gasping for air and tearing at my nightdress.

Blade raised his head then and because he knew our routine well, he jumped off the bed and waited for me to catch my breath and signal to him that I was okay.

"Shit," I said breathlessly, wiping at a trickle of perspiration on the side of my face. I padded on bare, shaking feet to the kitchen with Blade at my side to find a bottle. After a healthy mouthful, I exhaled and squatted next to Blade, holding up the metal clasp between us.

"If only this chased away nightmares too," I sighed, wearily.

On my way back through the corridor, the sounds coming from Angela's room made me cringe. She was already up, and by the sound of it, she and Ben were starting the day wonderfully.

"Get a room," I joked, as I walked into mine.

It was hard falling asleep after that because either Angela and Ben were nearing the end of their loud pleasure stick, or my tolerance for a strong shot in the morning was getting better.

I'd heard Angela and Ben before and because she was embarrassed by it, she had started sleeping over at his place whenever she knew sex was going to happen. Of course she wasn't a sex psychic, so she couldn't predict it all the time. I didn't mind overhearing it. Sex was sex and I was happy for anyone who was getting any, but it emphasized my lack of it ever since Eric, and made me irritably horny. I stuck my ipod ear pieces in when it got too hard to listen to and successfully blotted out the erotica. I fell asleep then with the help of music.

Edward was waiting for me in a dream. He was behind me again in the kitchen, like he was on Halloween night. His voice was low and throaty in my ear as he chastised me for drinking and his hands were on my hips. It played out a lot differently in my dream than it had in actuality….the way I wanted it to play out, the way I had fantasized even after just one meeting with him. I turned around to face him after he told me to stop drinking, but he took me by my shoulders and turned me back toward the stove.

"What are you doing?" I let out in an unsteady whisper.

"Stop asking so many questions," he said into my ear.

I loved his assertiveness. His confidence was effortless and natural, like he was born with it.

"They're watching us, Isabella," he said into my ear from behind.

"Who's watching us?"

"The ones who want to take you away from me."

I felt the tip of his nose connect with the skin in the curve of my neck and drift all the way up to the back of my ear. The sound of him inhaling against my skin made my eyes roll heavily to the back of my head.

I dropped my head to one side, giving him full access to my jaw and neck. Then I pressed my back against his front and found that my butt fit into the plane under his belt, perfectly. We fit, and by his stiffness I knew he was excited by me.

"Good," I whispered, tightening my fingers on the edge of the stove. "Let them watch. Give them something to watch, Edward."

He liked that. It excited him. He grabbed my hips and pulled me back onto him, hard enough to make him grunt something unsavoury into my ear. Thankfully, I was in my nightdress; short and roomy and conducive to exploration. His hands found the bare skin on my upper thighs quickly and as he caressed me upward, my night dress followed until it was piled and bundled over my hips. He exposed me. The material of my undies never felt more flimsy as I felt every contour of his erection through it.

He teased with his fingers, playing on the inner seams of my underwear between my thighs, exhaling profanities into my ear and making my hair stand. Then he held me firmly by my inner thigh and raised my leg, hooking the lower half of it behind him. With his other hand he touched me under the dress, roaming with feathery fingers from my stomach to my left breast. When he found the flesh with his palm he exhaled against my neck again and started massaging with soft emphasis on my nipple.

I let out a small cry of pleasure, dropping my head heavily against his shoulder. Even though I remembered that his hands were cool in reality, in my dream he was warm. When his right hand roamed toward the centre between my legs and delved under the seam of my undies, my breath constricted and I gasped.

His fingertips on my flickering knob was earth bending. Everything else ceased as those moments exploded from the depths of my insides and came through my mouth. In an instant I went from biting back my cries to abandoning myself shamelessly against his hand. I rocked myself against his fingers, eyebrows knitted together, lips parted, sex cries dancing, as he pushed against me and continued toying with my nipples up above.

I was losing my mind just with the way he worked his fingers against me, but then he slid one inside of me and I nearly collapsed. I was standing on one leg and my knee started to shake. I dug my fingernails into the stove, holding myself in place as he pumped in and out. Then he slid is tongue along my neck and I gasped.

Too much was happening all at once.

He was kissing my neck, he was back and forth between my breasts, he was on my swollen spot with his right thumb, and inside of me with two fingers. It was too much. When he noticed I couldn't hold my weight any longer he lifted me with his left arm and propped me up on the edge of the stove.

From that angle he had me. He took his fingers out and replaced them from behind, and with his other hand he grabbed me by my hair.

Ironically, I was still fully clothed. My night dress was heaped in a mess at my waist and my undies were simply pulled to the side. I knew he was riling for the chance to replace his fingers with his erection, but he held off.

Muscles I didn't even know I had tensed in pleasure.

I could even hear it. I could hear myself on his hands as he worked in and out, and the sound of it drove me wilder.

A few seconds was all I had left. When my cries turned to incoherent panting and he felt my inner walls start to constrict, he hooked his fingers inside and made me fall over onto my elbows. The final scream erupted from my throat then and a warm shudder ran through me.

"Edward," I gasped, when the wave had passed. "Edward!"

I rolled off the bed then and connected with the hard wood floor of my bedroom...

"Good morning," Angela sang, above me.

I opened my eyes to see her very amused expression and a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Who is Edward?" She asked, smiling from ear to ear.

"Nobody," I answered, jumping to my feet with flushed cheeks.

I pressed my nightdress down with sweaty palms and grabbed the cup from her. She was positively riddled with stifled giggles.

"Well, if _nobody _can make you sound like that, then…."

"Shut up," I cut her off, and raised my cup. "Thank you. Now, please leave me alone to die in privacy."

"Relax, Bells," she said smilingly. "It's only me. You've heard me plenty of times."

"Yes, but, you were actually having sex. So it doesn't count. Wait...is Ben still..."

"Morning, Bella," Ben said then, hurrying past my bedroom door with his head down. I put the cup down and dropped my face into my hands.

"Please kill me now," I groaned. "Any time now would be fine."

That's when Angela started to laugh.

"You're overacting!" She snorted. "It's only Ben. What's the big deal?"

"You're not helping, just so you know."

"Don't worry," she said, patting my head. "If you really sound anything like you just did, I'm pretty sure Ben is imagining..."

"Ugh! Gross! What, are you crazy? Get out."

She giggled and turned on her heels.

"I'm taking Blade out for his morning break. Take your time. Oh, and by the way? Edward sounds like _somebody_."

"You're to blame you know!" I called after her as she disappeared down the corridor. "You and all your sexing this morning."

I reached over for my cup then, and after the first sip I catapulted into the bathroom to spit it out.

That day was even worse than the rest of the week. After that dream I had, I was high strung and consumed by thoughts of Edward, a person still in stranger category. I had successfully built him up to an untouchable fantasy where he haunted my thoughts but always stayed out of reach.

And because of the 'stupid chip' I had stuck in my head, I planned on doing either one of two things to get him to come to me again.

I had to break one of his rules by either going back to the bell tower, or separating myself from the Selenite. Going to the bell tower wasn't possible that day because I had a make up lecture before my shift at Barca and I didn't want to risk being late for work. So I decided on the latter, separating myself from the Selenite.

Somehow he knew the first time I did it and it was my first clue about his peculiar nature. I knew something wasn't right and that he wasn't ordinary. He was too fast, too perceptive, too quiet and way too secretive to be overlooked.

Fear prevented me from attempting to attach any particular classification to him. I preferred to think of him as special, rather than _not human._ Better sense told me to do as he said, to seek comfort in the fact that he chose to stay away from me, and to leave it alone. However, my curiosity and growing attachment to the "idea" of him was driving me stark steering mad, and if for no other reason than to quiet the questions in my head, I had to see him again. One way or another I was going to make him come to me, even if it meant putting myself in "danger" to do it.

The fact that I still didn't know the kind of danger I was in, helped. I wasn't nearly as troubled about that as I should have been, perhaps. All I knew was that I was in trouble for trespassing, that I had pissed someone off, and Edward had come to warn me. The penalty for snooping on private property couldn't be anything worse than a fine to be paid, a restraining order, and a tainted record. I could live with all of those easily, but the thought of never seeing Edward again was disturbing. I simply had to see him again. He filled my thoughts to the point where I could think of nothing else.

That evening as I got dressed for work, I took the clasp of Selenite out of my shirt pocket and rested it on the counter top in the kitchen. I took three steps away from it and shifted my eyes about the room cautiously, waiting and training my ears on the door for any sign of him. I kept looking back at the clasp because this time I didn't want to miss a thing.

If Edward found his way to me on account of my separation from the Selenite, it'd be a clear sign of his abnormal nature. There would be no possible way of making me believe otherwise if that happened. I also seriously doubted that he was a stalker. A stalker wouldn't make himself as obvious like Edward had on Halloween night. There was a reason he moved like did and knew things like he did...and I wanted to know why.

I chewed on my lower lip pensively and stared at the thing on the counter top. After a few seconds I picked it up and put it in the top drawer. I made sure to do everything quietly and slowly so that I wasn't obvious. Then I scanned the apartment with my eyes again, looked at the ceiling and stared at the door. When nothing happened, I went to find Blade. He had already finished his dinner after his routine howl at 7 o'clock, and was lying lazily on his mat at the foot of my bed.

"Edward," I said, and giggled at the way he perked up his ears at the name.

I patted his head then and blew him a kiss. "Too cute. I'm going to work. See you in four and a half hours. Love ya."

On my way to the front door, I went back to the kitchen drawer and checked the drawer just to be sure. For some odd, god forsaken reason I felt strange without the Selenite on me, as if I had been separated from something essential. I stared down at it in restlessly, then slammed the drawer shut and shook my head. Nothing was stronger than my urge to see Edward again and so I left the clasp behind and decided to leave.

Even though I expected it, I was still surprised to find him waiting on the patio when I opened the door. The sight of him knocked the wind clean out of my lungs and all I could do was stare up at him in shock, thrilled that he had come. He wasn't so happy to see me. He looked angry, and his grey eyes flashed back and forth between mine like he wanted to singe my eyeballs out of my head.

Still, he was just as beautiful as I remembered him. His hair was tousled and his lips were pulled into a tight, fierce line.

"Go back inside," he sat flatly, with a step toward me.

I took a faulty step backward and swallowed my shock.

"I knew it," I said, as he brushed past me and walked inside. "There's something weird about you…what is it?"

He shut the door behind him then took me straight to the kitchen by my elbow. He opened the top drawer, pulled out the clasp and shoved it back into my pocket with a warning in his eyes. A million things raced through my mind then, the most nagging being my need for the truth.

I shoved my hand into my breast pocket with a determined frown, pulled the clasp out and tossed it back into the drawer. He repeated his earlier sequence of movements, yanked it out and put it back in my pocket. Then he sighed wearily and walked away from me.

"No," I said, and took the thing out of my pocket again.

I hauled it straight at him. But he turned around in the same second and caught it right in front of his face, without a single blink. My hands grabbed for my throat when I saw that and a strangled cry made its way out.

"You're not even trying to hide it," I gasped, staring at him in awe.

"What are you trying to prove?" He asked with a scowl. Blade leached himself to Edward's leg and tried to get his attention by licking his boots.

"I'm not trying to prove anything," I said. "I'm just trying to get you to tell me the truth."

"I already told you the truth," Edward barked, taking a brash step forward. He was angry.

"The _whole _truth," I answered, holding my ground. "And until you do, I'm not carrying around that little clasp any more. I have to go to work now. When you're ready to talk you know where to find me. Blade, leave Edward alone and go back to your room."

I turned and walked to the front door and just as I opened it, Edward grabbed me from behind and pulled me back in. He slammed the door and shoved me back against it, trapping me to the spot by pressing his hands to the door on either side of my head.

Despite my obvious, positive reaction to his closeness, his eyes were void of warmth.

He looked very much like he wanted bite my head off right then.

"What makes you think you can threaten me?" He ground out in a harsh whisper. "What makes you think that a stupid stunt like this merits my attention?"

I swallowed and took a deep, steadying breath.

"Well….you're here aren't you?"

With an exasperated gasp he pushed himself away from the door and turned his back on me.

"I only want to understand, Edward," I said to his back. "This is all very strange, and I don't like not knowing what's going on. I can't get you out of my head. Ever since you showed up with this ridiculous story it's all I can think about. Nothing that happened last Friday makes any sense. How did you expect I'd react to it? How can you expect me to just roll over and play dead after you came in here and..." I stopped myself. I couldn't admit just yet just how much he had affected me.

"There's something different about you," I went on. "That girl, Rose, she's different too. It's not obvious but I know it because you were both so close to me. Her eyes are like yours, exactly the same. I've never seen eyes so rare in colour before and it's odd that you both have the same ones. Is she your sister?"

"_This_ right here is why I need to stay away from you," he growled, pointing with a harsh finger. When he turned his coat flared out at his sides. "I can't answer your questions, Isabella."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because the answers are not mine to give."

I could see he was pleading with me to give it up, to stop pressuring him to tell me something he wanted to. The strain in his eyes was palpable and when he stared at me like that, like he was helpless and struggling with something enormous, it drew me to him more.

"I am bound to secrecy," he said, pressing a rigid hand to his chest. "You were not supposed to see what you saw."

"What did I see? The bell tower?" I started moving toward him but he held his hand out to stop me.

"If they know what you know, they will take your life, Isabella. I cannot allow that."

"What exactly _do_ I know? Who will take my life? Please!" I grabbed my hair at the sides of my head and tugged hard.

"I'm going crazy. Are you even real? Are you standing here with me now? Were they right when they told me I was mad? Maybe you're a ghost and that's why Blade can see you too. Dogs, they can sense things you know."

"I am as real as the 120,000 strands of hair on your head."

I didn't know how to answer that. I let go of my hair, taken aback by the definite figure he gave me and wondered what to make of it.

"These aren't just secrets, Isabella. These are centuries of history, guarded by rules, position and power…." Then he closed the space between us with a few slow steps and stood over me. "For the sole purpose of looking after you."

"Me?"

He relaxed minutely then, managed a small smile, and slid the clasp back into my pocket.

"Please. Trust me and forget what you think you know. Keep your thoughts to yourself and carry on like we never met."

I shook my head as a swell of trepidation built in my chest. I took the clasp out of my pocket and pressed it to his chest. If having it meant never seeing him again, I didn't want it.

When I felt his unyielding, hard frame behind his shirt, I frowned and shook my head abysmally.

"What are you?"

"Isabella…"

"No…" I took a step back and let go of the clasp which he caught with his open palm by his waist when it fell.

"There are things about you that I cannot forget," I argued. "You can't expect me to just forget about you. I'm sorry, I know how I sound and I know it's crazy but what you're asking is impossible. I can keep my thoughts quiet. I can keep any secret you tell me, but I won't be able to forget you. I don't want to go on as if we never met. I...I like you."

"You're being difficult."

"Call it what you want," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "But unless you start giving me answers I'm not carrying around the dust any more. Let danger come. I want to see it with my own eyes because I have a feeling that when I do, it will explain everything, and finally, I will understand."

He bit down on his jaw hard and something as pure as livid rage flashed through his eyes, making them as black at the coat he wore. Instinctively I flinched away from him, unnerved by the deviant vibe he emanated. He was dangerous. That much was evident, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me, though he was certainly very capable of it.

"I cannot force you to wear it, Isabella. I can only beg you to."

"Then let's make a deal."

He scoffed and turned his face away, shook his head incredulously and turned back to me with a raised eyebrow.

"You want to make a deal…with _me_?" He asked, in the most peculiar manner.

I shrugged.

"You don't want to enter into a pact with _me,_ Isabella…trust me."

"Trust you, trust you, trust you!" I threw my hands into the air. "People who say that all the time are the ones least worthy of trust, and so far you aren't giving me a reason to trust you, Edward. Tell me the truth."

He expelled a sharp breath of air through his nose, his irritation obvious. He had to keep turning his face away so that I wouldn't see the vile look in his eyes whenever I pushed him. And though I felt badly for pressing him like I was, I had to know or else I would never rest again.

"Come on," I folded my arms across my torso. "I'm a big girl. I know how to keep my end of a deal. If you answer my questions, I promise to keep the Selenite on me for as long as you want me to. I'll even get a chain link for it so I can wear it around my neck. You'd like that, wouldn't you? I promise. I won't take it off...ever."

He slid his hands into his coat pockets and stood perfectly still for a while, staring into space, thinking perhaps, but he didn't move. It had to be impossible for a person to stay that still. My eyes took in every inch of his statuesque form as he stared off. He even looked like he wasn't breathing any more. He didn't blink. He didn't twitch. Not a single part of him moved.

"Edward?"

"Three questions," he said, shifting his steely eyes to mine.

I swallowed stiffly as my heart fumbled for comfort in my chest. Just being in the same room with him was overwhelming, but now, I was actually getting somewhere. I almost couldn't believe it.

"I have lots more than three," I uttered.

"Three is all you get. Choose wisely."

I wrung my fingers together and bit into my bottom lip. I had to think about those three questions carefully. I had to make them good, because getting him to agree to that alone was like a miracle. I couldn't waste my three questions on crap that would still leave me guessing. I glanced at Blade absently. He was hunkered down at Edward's feet, paying attention to everything that was happening.

Then, just like a spoke in my wheel, my cell rang from inside my purse and yanked me back to reality. I didn't even remember how and when my purse fell on the floor, but I dashed for it quickly and snatched the phone from inside.

"Hello?" I answered.

"You're over half hour late," Mike responded. "Where the hell are you?"

"I know. I'm sorry," I said, glancing at Edward. "I need the night off."

"What?"

"I know it's short notice but I need the time off, Mike."

"This isn't short notice Bella, this is no notice."

"I'm sorry, but something came up and it's kind of...urgent. I can work a double tomorrow. I'm stuck where I am right now."

"Stuck where?"

"I can't get into it right now."

Edward turned away, trying not to listen to my conversation. I saw him whisper something inaudible to Blade and was impressed when Blade got up and trekked down the corridor to my bedroom.

"I'm not happy about this, Bella," Mike continued to argue. "You can work the double tomorrow but don't expect overtime."

"You're the best, Mike. Thanks."

I turned the lock on the front door after I ended the call and dropped my purse on the floor. It was Friday night and I expected that Angela would be out late with Ben. At least I hoped so, so that I'd have some privacy with Edward after my week of mental torture.

"You're good with him," I said to Edward as I walked over to the sitting area and sat on the couch. I kicked off my shoes and folded my legs Indian style in front of me.

"Blade, I mean. He's stubborn with everyone else but you."

"I guess you can say I have a way with animals," he said, sullenly, from behind me.

I looked over the back of the couch and saw the visual difficulty he was having with what was about to happen. It was plastered all over his face. He was still standing on one spot with his legs apart and his hands in his coat pockets.

"You want to take your coat off?" I asked.

"No."

"Okay. You want to come over here so you can sit?"

He walked over to the sitting area but he didn't sit. He stood by the window and leaned against the frame with his eyes on the blinds.

"I have my three questions," I ventured.

"Wait," he said, taking a moment to stare off in silence. He stayed like that for a few seconds then glanced at me at nodded.

"It is safe. You may start now."

I frowned and cocked my head to the side, wanting to ask him what he had just done, but I couldn't ask, not if it would be included in my three questions.

"Before you begin," he started. "There are terms to our pact that you need to know."

"I prefer the word deal," I said to him.

"A deal is still a pact by a different name. It is the same."

"Fine," I replied. "What are your terms?"

"You are sworn to secrecy, Isabella. If you impart what you learn here tonight, you not only forfeit your own life, but the lives of the ones you tell as well. Already as it is, I am breaking a vow by allowing you information you have no right knowing. And if the ones more powerful than me find out about this, I will have no control over your fate. Do you understand? It will be out of my hands. If you enter this pact, you do it willingly, knowing the consequences of breeching, and knowing that the only way to protect yourself is to swear yourself to secrecy. And you promise to keep the Selenite on you, _always_."

I started getting nervous. My palms were sweaty and my right eye chose that exact moment to develop a twitch.

"Those more powerful than you?"

"Is that your first question?"

"No!" I shot my hands out in front of me. "It isn't. Ignore it."

"Do we have an agreement?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Then we can start."

"Jesus," I whispered, staring at him in wonderment. "You're like a living daydream."

"This is not fantasy, Isabella. This is very real and very dangerous. But maybe you _ought_ to know just how dangerous so that you are scared into submission. It might be good for you...teach you a lesson."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"Like I said before," he replied, and I was shocked to see the touch of tenderness in his eyes then. "It is not me you need to worry about."

"Question number one then," I began, with a deep breath. The answer to this one alone had the power to change the world as I knew it.

"Are you human?"

He bit down on his jaw and the tenderness vanished from his eyes just as suddenly as it appeared.

"Not any more," he said, keeping his eyes purposely averted from mine.

My heart skipped multiple beats then. I literally felt it stop inside of my chest. I had to force another deep breath in before it stuttered to life again. The chill that settled over me sunk into my pores and made me shudder. It crept so deep within me that my bones hurt and I had to wring my arms around my centre for warmth.

"I'll take that….as a no."

He didn't answer. His frown was as impenetrable as it was intimidating and the shadows it cast over his eyes were grim.

I ran my clammy fingers through my dark hair and cleared my throat before starting again.

"Okay," I said in a tremulous voice, glad that he refused me eye contact.

"If you aren't human, what are you?" Was my next question.

I kept my gaze in my lap, trained on the pattern of my intertwined my fingers, though my ears stretched endlessly for the sound of his voice. The terse silence after that second question was long and draining. I heard the pulse beat in my head and my palms kept spouting water. I waited for him to digest the question, for him to find the answer, then when I saw him shift his stance from the corner of my eye, my head shot up and I stared at him in anxious anticipation.

"I am a Gargoyle," was his soft answer.

I thought I didn't hear right. I stayed still on the couch and stared at him for the longest while after that answer, waiting for the shift in the universe that would slap me in the face and wake me up. I waited for the laughter that would call me silly and tell me I had heard wrong; that I was too gullible for any sane person.

But it never came.

I played his answer in my head over and over again.

_I am a Gargoyle, I am a Gargoyle, I am a Gargoyle_...and every time, it sounded the same.

He wasn't the type to play jokes, and by the discomfort in his disposition I could tell he was being honest. Something crucial had just happened between us. He had just bared himself to me.

Suddenly, the whole bell tower thing made sense. The pieces came together and reared a whole new set of questions for me to ask. There were Gargoyles in the bell tower and ever since I had discovered it, strange things started happening and everyone was warning me to stay away. I knew there was a link between him and that place...but could this be it? The most outlandish, incredible link I could make? Could that really be it? Was he one of the Gargoyles up there? And if so...which one?

"Please be the lion," I whispered, thinking out loud. I felt when his eyes snapped toward me and my body froze under his stare. We stared at each other for a few tense moments; him waiting for me to react, and me, not knowing how to.

How was it possible to be a Gargoyle? I thought. Weren't they made of stone? He was standing right there in front me...in the flesh, not stone.

Then I remembered the way his hands felt on my face.

"My God," I choked out, running my eyes up and down the length of him. "It's true."

He looked very much like a man. There was no alien appendage or visible proof that he wasn't human, and those Gargoyles on the bell tower were animals.

Then, did that mean he could change his form? Were there others? The girl...Rosalie, was she one of them too? They had the same eyes.

I felt my head swell with the pressure. My blood was rushing beneath my skin and my heart was racing so fast it sent my breathing off course. Too many things were off centre. I had effectively _lost_ my centre and it was impossible to just sit there and stare back at him as calmly as he was staring at me.

I got up and marched to the kitchen, in search of the only thing that ever had the power to quieten my anxiety. I pulled open the cabinet and snatched the Vodka off the shelf.

"I don't like it when you do this," he said, from right behind me. I shrieked in surprise and jumped around to find myself nose to nose with him.

"Stop doing that," I gasped, looking down at his lips, so close to mine.

Nothing worked. I couldn't breathe, especially with him so close. My eye wouldn't stop twitching. My heart was pounding and begging for alcoholic mercy. And I couldn't stop sweating. I was a wreck of nervous energy, and the only thing that could offer control was a shot.

With his face close to mine, I unscrewed the cap with one hand, threw my head back and filled my mouth from the spout.

Once I had swallowed, he grabbed the bottle from my hand and tossed it in the bin behind him. He dunked it successfully without even looking and the glass shattered as it landed.

"Show off," I muttered.

"You drink too often," he said, observantly. "I don't like it."

His eyes made the path down to my lips and rested there. As it was, I was trying deathly hard to channel all my mental power on staying coherent, so him doing suggestive things like that only made it harder for me to focus. I only realized I was holding my breath when he put his open palm on my chest and pressed gently on the spot. By doing that, he pushed the trapped air out of my lungs and it all came out in one long, dreary sigh.

When my lungs were empty I sucked in another deep breath, and so that I wouldn't hold it, he pressed on the spot again.

"Wow," I whispered, as a calming warmth spread through me.

He was quiet as he hovered over my face, his eyes moving up and down, left to right. I put my both hands over his on my chest and felt his skin, able to understand for the first time why he felt the way he did.

I wanted to ask him if he was made of stone, but I couldn't because I still had one question left, and that wasn't it. I would have to find a way to get him to agree to this another time, so that I could get more out him. God only knew, there was more to ask, especially now.

He dipped his face closer to mine, making me raise my chin instinctively to meet him in the middle. Then just as I was about to close my eyes and melt into his kiss he opened his mouth and said:

"You have one more."

He even smiled a little, enjoying the effect he was having on me.

I knew I had one more question, but talking was impossible. All I wanted to do was kiss him. I had just found out what he was, and I still wanted to kiss him. I was still attracted to him in a way that felt unhealthy already. And somehow, finding out that he wasn't human made him a thousand times more intriguing.

He was so close. He was breathing on me. He smelled sweet. He was different. He was strong. He was forbidden. I wanted every tether on his body.

"Isabella," he whispered tauntingly, reminding me of what I already knew.

I shook my head slightly to shut him up. Why was he trying to get me to talk? I didn't want to talk, I wanted to kiss.

"Your third question, please."

When I bit into my bottom lip and ran my eyes over the plush width of his, he leaned forward and pinned my body against the stove behind me.

A small squeak fell from my lips when I felt his weight, and even though I knew he was holding back, he was still remarkably heavy.

"A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi," he said, smilingly.

I frowned up at him, entranced by the ease at which the words rolled off his tongue.

"Latin," I said, recognizing the language. "What does it mean?"

"It means, between a rock and a hard place." Then he smiled with one side of his mouth. "See, even I am capable of humour."

"What are you trying to do to me?" I asked, shaking my head. "You're teasing me, and I'm not so sure you're willing to finish what you're starting here."

He passed his gaze over my face again and rested his hands lightly on my hips. The fact that I had met him only once before was of no importance. This wasn't some arbitrary man that I was planning on shacking up with. This was a supernatural enigma. This never happened, and if it did, it only happened in fairy tales. Add his disturbing good looks to the equation and I was bought. And I was by no means ashamed of it.

"You're not the one being teased here, Isabella," he breathed into my face, rubbing his thumbs back and forth across my hip bone. Just that simple contact was drugging.

"You haven't a clue how long I've yearned for...something like this," he finished, with care. "I'm the one being tortured, and I will lose greatly from allowing myself even a hint of what you could give to me. I am using every ounce of my will power right now to deny myself what I want most in the world."

"And what is that?" I asked, whisperingly.

"Is that your third question?" He asked, managing to steer me back on course.

"No," I said, simply. "It isn't."

"Then ask it."

He lifted his weight then and took a step back, and I felt my body re-inflate with the air between us.

"Where are you going?"

"You're not concentrating. I am distracting you."

I passed my hands through my hair and nodded, realising then that my third question was perfect, given the interaction we had just had.

"Why do I feel like I know you, Edward?" I asked. " Even though I was scared at first, innately, I felt a connection to you. You knew where I work, where I live, my name. You talk and move like you know me, even though I'm sure I only just met you a week ago. And when you say things like you're denying yourself the thing you want most in the world, I wonder if it's me you're talking about, and if so, how long have you known me? Because a feeling like that can't evolve in just a few days.

"I know you're linked to the bell tower, and I know you had to warn me to stay away from there, because it put me in danger...but, even after all that, this feels like it has more to do with just...the bell tower. Why do I feel like I know you, Edward? Why do I feel such an intense connection to you, only after knowing you a week?"

"That's more than one question."

"They're all the same really."

He sighed and dropped his eyes, then just as he was about to answer he raised his head and the calm in his features vanished.

"Angela," he said, and I only had to blink before he was at the front door already.

Shell shocked by the speed with which he moved, I gasped and almost collapsed on the spot.

"I have to leave you now," he said before opening the door and stepping out. "Good night."

"Wait!" I yelled, and lunged to the door. "You didn't answer my question!"

I ran out onto the front porch just as Angela was making her way up the steps.

"What are you doing home?" She asked, following my stare with her eyes. "What are you looking for?"

But he was gone.

I hugged myself in disappointment and looked at her dejectedly, feeling robbed of my time with him.

"Bella, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes," I retorted, trying to smile.

"I bought dinner. There's enough for two."

It wasn't her fault she came home. So I did better at smiling and thanked her for dinner.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look flushed."

"I'm fine. I just needed some air. It's warm inside."

"How come you didn't go to work tonight?"

"Tired. I needed a night off. I had a rough week."

"Yes, you've been down and distracted all week. I was worried."

"What's for dinner?" I asked, wanting to change the topic.

"Chinese. Come inside. It's cold out here. Start without me, I have to use the bathroom."

She ran into the apartment then and dropped the bags on the counter before darting down the corridor.

Just as I was about to close the door behind me, two strong hands held me by my waist and pulled me back gently. I knew it was him by his smell. I tried to turn around but he held me still and pressed one hand between my shoulder blades on my back.

"Fama volat," he whispered into my ear, pressing on my tattoo.

I blanched.

"The answer to your question," he whispered. "This is why you know me, Isabella. Fama Volat."

He turned me toward him quickly, as unresponsive as I was, and held my face in his hands. Before I could adjust to the shock of his revelation, he bent his head and pressed our lips together. I almost died in his grasp. I closed my eyes and registered the cool, firmness of his lips. They were unlike any lips I'd ever kissed before and by far the least forgettable.

Still in shock, I stepped in closer and wrapped my arms around his neck, never expecting that our first kiss would happen quite like this. Our heads turned and when our lips met again, his felt warmer, and I noticed with interest that the longer we kissed the more his texture and temperature changed. He got progressively warmer, as if his body changed to suit mine, borrowing the heat from my lips.

When I felt his tongue I paused, but then so did he. So I pressed harder and encouraged him because I could feel him holding back, concerned about my reaction to how he felt. As far as I could see, he looked very much like a man and the more I kissed him, the more he felt like one. Our kiss deepened and he continued to absorb my warmth, tightening his hold on the sides of my face as we moved.

Just as I was getting heavily engrossed, he pulled away, pressed our foreheads together to exhale, and dropped a light kiss on the tip of my nose.

I was right. His lips were definitely warmer by the end of the kiss.

"Our pact is sealed," he said, then he slipped the Selenite into my pocket for the last time that night.

Before I could say good night he was gone again, leaving me blinking in the wake of our intimacy.

With my heart in my throat, I ran down the steps to the side walk and turned my eyes up to the sky. I searched frantically for him, feeling my eyes well up with tears. I choked through my emotion, remembering that fateful night three years ago when he had saved my life.

It was Edward. Edward was the one that saved my life. I could hardly believe it.

"Fama volat," I said to the sky as the first of my tears rolled down my cheeks. "I knew it happened. I knew you were real, and you're more wonderful than I ever imagined."

A/N: What's that I hear? Finally? lol. I hope you liked it. More to come :o) Please review.


	7. Chapter 6 Absconder

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing so far. It's been great getting feedback on such a different idea. Please enjoy this chapter. Happy reading.

**Chapter 6**

**Absconder**

**Edward**

"What on earth are you doing Edward?" I screamed at myself as I shot through the sky after kissing her.

With eyes held steadfast above ground, aimed like an arrow through the clouds, I reeled in misery and fetid anxiety. I was both uncomfortable that high up, and angry with myself for crossing yet another line with Isabella. How could I be such a fool?

"You're going to get her killed," I muttered.

There was nothing else left, not for me. There was no hope for love with Isabella, no possible future for us, no way back from the depths of loving frustration I felt for her, and no life beyond December. I had chosen death after my sentence and was by no means afraid of it, but I hadn't expected the brash cruelty of falling in love, let alone yearning for it, just mere seconds in a lifetime before the end. I hadn't expected life to toss its paradoxical jibe in my face, like a laughing joker with painted face and evil eyes, laughing at me for being a fool.

I knew that I had crossed a line by giving in to her. I literally felt the juxtaposition of everything that made me a Gargoyle shift drastically the moment I agreed to it. My weakness was to blame, no less than the flaming torch I carried in her name. But irony in the matter was that even though I felt my insides crumble as I heard the truth leave my lips...on some level, it comforted me.

I found myself wanting her to know, because I wanted her to know me. Though now that she did, I felt like I had to run from it.

Irony, again.

Saving her life three years before evidently put her in worse danger. I'd be lying to myself if I didn't admit that she'd have been safer and at peace had I allowed her to die that night. The same went for Tanya. I agreed to have Tanya's life saved without realizing that she'd never really _live_ afterward. She was lonely, dejected, miserable and damaged, and it resulted in her taking her own life – the very life I thought I was protecting by leaving her in the first place.

I should have learned from that. It was a lesson that I ought not be so audacious as to hope, to think I had any power over the balance of life on earth. Even after two hundred years I still didn't know how to turn a blind eye to the things I wanted to change but had no right to. I still hadn't learned from past mistakes and ended up landing myself and the girl I loved in another dangerous situation.

I didn't have to reveal myself to Isabella; I wanted to. I had many opportunities to turn away from her, but didn't. I could have let her drown. I could have left her on the bank of the black creek after saving her and never turned back. I could have separated myself from her many a night instead of returning like a possessed puppet, just for the sound of her. And I could have let Rosalie to step in when she wanted to, and nip the potential problem in the bud. She would have hypnotized Isabella into killing herself, and finally, I would have been free of my obsession with her. Free to move on and free to finish my sentence in mock peace and solitude.

But my system inherently rejected the notion, almost physically. I could barely last through a night without going to her far less than to fathom the thought of her life ending before mine; and least of all by the will of a Gargoyle. And now, because of my weakness or as the rest of my host would say, my asinine stupidity, I was buried in a ghastly situation with no good possible outcome. Not only did I put her in the line of fire by exposing her to knowledge about my kind, I essentially screwed myself over by getting too close to her. And now, after touching her again, and feeling what it was like to have her warmth and vulnerability against my unyielding nature, there was no turning back.

Two hundred years without companionship was a long time, and nearing the end of my sentence made me vulnerable in a way that should have been impossible for a Gargoyle; if that's what I was. Sometimes, I wasn't so sure.

I was torn in two after kissing her. I tried to stay still on the roof of her building afterward and monitor her like I always did, but that night it was too hard. I was restless and tormented by the feelings that wanted to explode from my chest, needing to separate myself from the thundering sound in hers... the sound that was put there by me. So, I took to the sky like a maddened bullet for a minute or so, and flew straight into Bellevue. Looking down prematurely from that high in the sky was a predictale mistake of mine. I had to land when the lights started whirring out of control, opting to walk in agitated pace for a few hours in an attempt to unscramble my thoughts and rid them of my human fetish.

I knew that there was no possible way it could ever work with Isabella, for too many reasons. We were not the same. It was forbidden. I was nearing death, having less than two months to go before turning to dust forever.

Getting close to her was a terrible idea, as well as it was selfish and cruel. Selfish, because I was the one gaining while she could only lose in the end. And cruel, because I couldn't allow her to fall for me the way I already suspected she was. I couldn't offer her a future, having nothing more than a month and a half at best. Inevitably we were destined for separation, destined to fail for each other. I'd already once witnessed the desecrating effect of my abrupt separation from the woman I loved, and I didn't want to do that again... especially, with Isabella. Just the thought of her in pain because of the price she would pay for getting close to me was hurtful.

I was an abysmal fool for having known all of this yet still, relenting under the power of her spell, answering her questions and that one in particular that bound me to her hook, line and sinker.

_Fama volat_...

I was her angel with wings, the one she never gave up hope in, the one she talked about to Blade every night because he was the only one who wouldn't think she was crazy, the one symbolized by that tattoo on her back, and the one who wagered her life for a kiss.

I knew she wouldn't rest after hearing the truth. She had wanted it too long. She suffered rumours and isolation because of her faith in a guardian that no one else believed in. After that kiss, I expected that she'd wait for me despairingly... anxiously, torturing herself with a pit of new questions all burning for answers that she was not allowed. And I knew all too well, like a fool in forbidden love, that I would give it all to her. At the end of my facetious rope, I had not the strength nor the desire to deny her anymore. The only preventative method as I saw it was to stay away from her from that night on. It was the only way to keep her safe.

As I walked the streets late that night and skulked around the shadowed alleys, wretchedness and frustration followed me. It gnawed its way into my pores and left its stink all over me. Being away from the sound of her heartbeat and her voice, and the scent of her perfumed skin was more than I was willing to take, but I fought it. I fought the urge to turn back, and trained my ears on the sounds of the night; the drunken laughter, the malicious swearing, the sexual upheaval, the tears of the dying and the hopeless grieving.

The crying of an abandoned baby behind a dumpster caught my attention. I touched his sores to close them up and put him in the open squad car of a police officer; losing my faith in the human race for the umpteenth time. I waited nearby until the child was discovered, just to make sure, and on seeing the shock of the officer transform to panic then concern, I relaxed, knowing that he would be alright. I helped a few others that night; a stabbed prostitute; a blind man who was about to be mugged; and a stray cat that got himself stuck in a fucking tree. And after going through the laborious motions like a numb fuck, I gave up trying to forget about her and her ridiculously soft lips, and returned to my perch on the bell tower for the night.

"I can smell her on you," Alice said, not a minute after I landed.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you out there with Jasper and the rest?"

She came around the side of the bell to where I sat against the wall, away from the edge.

"Looking out for you," she answered.

"Stop looking out for me." I shook my head. "It makes no sense. Either way, I'm done."

"Oh, Edward," she said with a sigh, and jumped up onto the wide concrete banister on which she sat. "You're way too melodramatic for a Gargoyle. If you had put half that effort into enjoying your gifts all these years instead of cursing them, you'd have had a much better outlook on things….and a much easier transition."

"Now of all times Alice, it doesn't matter."

"What are you doing?" She asked, drawing my eyes to hers. "With the girl…what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm not doing anything with the girl."

"You're flirting with danger. Don't think you can lie to me. You know you can't. I can see you better than anyone else can, and I know that you've been in love with her. I knew it the moment it happened. It's impossible for you to hide how you feel, not with eyes that translucent."

She jumped down and came over to me, squatted between my knees and held my face in her hands.

"Edward," she said. "I love you like I would my own brother if I could have one, and regardless of what your fate might be, I can't let you go down like this. I know you've touched her. I can smell it on your skin and I can see it in your eyes. You're tormented by this temptation that has overtaken you... possessed by it. If you love her this much, you need to stay away from her, for her own good."

"Don't you think I know?" I closed my eyes and tried not to scream. "I've already decided that."

"Then I hope it's not too late."

"It just might be."

She dropped her elbows onto her thighs and let her hands fall between her knees.

"This kind of pain….this suffering…it's almost…." Her voice trailed off.

"Human?"

"Yes."

"Are you surprised?"

"No."

"You have to help her, Alice," I said. "I've put her in even more danger and I can't protect her anymore if protecting her means being this close to her. You have to keep her safe for me, please, even after…."

"What do you mean you've put her in more danger, Edward?"

I dropped my eyes and braced myself for the oncoming tirade.

"Edward?"

"I told her."

She shot up to her feet as if she'd just been slapped in the face, walked over to the balcony where she grabbed on and tried not to crush the concrete with her hands. A deep rumbling from above drew my eyes toward the sky and the black clouds that emerged in sudden and unequivocal temper was evidence enough of the mood I put her in. In addition to her ability to see through any opaque surface, Alice knew how to manipulate the elements of nature as well.

Ever wondered why the weather man got it wrong? It was Alice.

"Think right now's the best time for a freak storm, Al?"

"Be quiet," she growled, and I dropped my head against the wall behind me, waiting for her to calm down so that we could talk. One flash of lightning and a few gusts of strong wind later, she turned back to me and folded her arms with dark, penetrating eyes.

"Why?" Was all she asked.

"She threatened to put herself in danger unless I explain."

"Explain what?"

"The night Rose went after her and I gave her the Selenite, a few things happened. She threw it away, for one, and I panicked because I knew Rose would come back to see if she had another shot at her. I wasn't wrong. She _did_ go back. So I went into her apartment to try my best to explain to her, without revealing too much, about how important it was that she keep the Selenite on her body."

"And she sensed your peculiarities when you got too close."

I nodded.

"And instead of leaving it there….you went back," she finished.

"I had to. She did it again. I tried Alice. I tried to stay away from her. I went back to my routine and didn't let her see me for a week, but she was smart. She separated herself from the Selenite again because she knew it would take me to her, and refused to wear it unless I answered her questions."

"You're stupid."

"I know."

"You're allowing a human to manipulate you."

"I can't help myself when it comes to her. I can't stand the fact that she might be in trouble. Losing her is never an option, Alice. Never."

"So instead, you put her in even more trouble...makes sense, yes."

"Alice…"

"Edward, exactly _what_ did you tell her? Leave nothing out."

"The truth. What, and who I am."

Something like agony flashed across her face, but she contained it and took a deep breath.

"So she knows it's you who saved her."

I nodded.

"I have no other words to insult your carelessness, Edward. I've run out." She sighed and shook her head. "You can't let any of the others know about this."

"Of course not."

"Not even Jake."

I hesitated then, and she saw it.

"I mean it Edward, not even Jake. He won't be able to keep it from Jasper, and after everything you've done to keep her safe, all hope will be lost and your girl will surely lose her life if they find out. And you…."

"I don't matter."

"Stop saying that," she hissed. "You matter, and you know it."

Jasper landed on the balcony then and came around the side toward us.

"I thought you were going to meet me at the museum," he said, taking Alice's hand in his gloved one. She was the only one beside me who dared to get physically close to Jasper. She loved him and _I_ could repel his gift if I needed to, making it bounce right back to him if need be. That was something he wouldn't risk. He had what we called the 'stone touch.' He could turn any human to stone on contact, forever, and could turn a Gargoyle back to stone, at night, with just the touch of his bare hands. Being turned by him at night meant staying in that form until the next sunset since he didn't have the power to reverse his gift.

Because of that, he was perceived as the most dangerous in our host since his ability held the highest threat to his own kind, renouncing our invincibility with just the mere touch of his hands and thankfully, only his hands. Just the thought of being turned while in flight and falling to a stony death below was reason enough to demand that he wore gloves at all times. And so he did.

"I was almost there, but I heard Edward and wanted to spend time with him." Alice smiled and tip toed for his kiss. His eyes fluttered to me while his lips were on hers and it took only a second for him to detect the difference in me. While holding Alice by her shoulders, he frowned and turned his face to me.

"Why do you smell like human?"

"Because I've been with them all night," I answered, in my defense. "I've been working."

It wasn't a lie. I had helped a few, though that was enough reason to have the smell so strong on me, even though I held that baby for at least ten minutes before finding the squad car. He smiled devilishly and passed his gloved fingers through Alice's short hair, making her step closer to him. His gray eyes were on me though, reading my expression as his light bond hair flickered in the wind.

"I believe you," he smiled. "Though you're a terrible liar."

"I'm not lying."

"But you aren't telling the whole truth either, are you?"

"Jazz," Alice said, shoving his his chest slightly. "Quit it. Let's go. We don't have a lot of time left."

Before they took off, Jasper came over to me and rested his hand on my shoulder. "All I'm going to say is, be careful. Alice loves you a lot and I don't want to see her hurt because of your indiscretions. Be warned."

And with that, he took off to the sky behind her.

**Bella**

Again, I found myself waiting for him. Night after night for two weeks, I waited for him to show, and he didn't. I behaved this time, and tried to obey his instructions because as much as I wanted him to make an appearance, I didn't like making him angry.

He was different when he got angry; less gentle, remote and frighteningly cold. Besides, I wanted him to come to me because he wanted to, not because I forced him. I would have thrown the Selenite away again to get a reaction, but separating myself from it was an unappealing idea. I had since gotten attached to the ethereal sustenance in that little thing, so much so that not having it on my body at all times was suddenly inconceivable. He had given it to me. It came from him, and so, I became attached.

Needless to say, I was stunned after he kissed me, and even more so by his revelation right after. To think that he was the one I had waited for, for three years…the one I obsessed about, dreamt about, held onto with unbreakable faith. As unbelievable as it was, the dream had miraculously come to life, and there he was, in my life, close enough that I could touch him.

For days after I was dazed and trapped in an internal sepulcher. I barely ate or slept and was unable to contribute to normal conversation. Consumed by obsessive thoughts of him, I became shut off to the outside world and withdrew into a shell of internal monologue. The only thing that activated me at all was doing research for my thesis since my professor had accepted my Gargoyle slant for my topic. Driven by new inspiration, I dived head first into research, looking more for answers about Edward than actually trying to support any existing question or theory on the subject.

The deeper I went, the more interesting my findings became…..

"_Gargoyles stand guard, warding off unwanted spirits and other creatures, and if they were hideous and frightening enough, it was thought they would be especially effective in scaring off all sorts of other threatening creatures. Perhaps it was even believed that some came alive at night, protecting people when they were most vulnerable. Better still, the ones with wings could fly and protect the village as well as the church…_

"_Gargoyles can be traced back 4000 years to Egypt, Rome and Greece. Terra cotta water spouts depicting: lions, eagles, and other creatures, including those based on Greek and Roman mythology, were very common…._

"_Gargoyles and grotesques have always given carvers and sculptors a chance to delight in their creativity and to explore the possibilities in the dance between stone and imagination…."_  
And then there were quotes by famous saints…..

_"What are these fantastic monsters doing in the cloisters under the very eyes of the brothers as they read? What is the meaning of these unclean monkeys, strange savage lions and monsters? To what purpose are here placed these creatures, half beast, half man? I see several bodies with one head and several heads with one body. Here is a quadruped with a serpent's head, there a fish with a quadruped's head, then again an animal half horse, half goat... Surely if we do not blush for such absurdities we should at least regret what we have spent on them." – _St. Bernard.

Day in and day out I read, until the pages tore at my fingers and made them bleed; and until my eyes got red and blood shot from staring at the laptop monitor too long.

"_Gargoyles crafted during Medieval times became increasingly grotesque in design. Soon they were referred to as "chimeras" because of their representations of creatures that were not of this world - half man, and half bird or beast. These new incarnations were either depicted sitting on their haunches or poised to take flight."_

Could it be that other types of myths were also real? That things scribed in literature and referred to as "myth" or "theory" actually had some measure of truth behind it? My mind, open as it was, still had some measure of difficulty with the concept of a living Gargoyle….or many. Though, as the days passed and I flipped through hundreds of pages, tore at my fingers and clicked through numerous sites, I stayed with it. I got increasingly more immersed. The deeper in I went, the more abject I felt from humanity, and what I knew to be reality.

Normalcy was suddenly absurd, bland at best. The world as I knew it felt like a dishonest veil pulled over my eyes just to hide the truths of the universe. Still, even after hundreds of paragraphs I wasn't satisfied, because nothing I read gave me any answers about the rules or premise on which Edward's world survived and operated. What were these rules he held to so adamantly?

As far as I could tell, Gargoyles were perceived only as practical sculptures for the purpose of channelling water away from a building, or used symbolically, as Grotesques, to teach the illiterate members of the church about the bible in early Christianity. The theory that Gargoyles came to life at night was myth, with no facts or witness of such ever provided. And I wondered why. Why was it a secret then? To me, the concept was beautiful. Why did knowing about it forfeit a human's right to live?

There were too many questions and no hope for answers since Edward, ever the absconder as I was learning, had decided to desert me again. On Wednesday night, five nights after our kiss and a doctorate worth of research, I noticed Blade's peculiar change in behaviour. He didn't bark or howl at the window at his usual time that evening.

Instead he attacked it, much later, and long after he had his dinner. I shut off my laptop and squinted at him through blood shot eyes, dying for a cup of coffee but trying to understand his behavior.

I thought back. Over the past few nights his routine had gone off skew. He howled sporadically and at random times, instead of at sun set like he usually did. On Saturday I waited for it before my second shift at Barca. I rushed home at 6:45 to feed him. The sun set and night fell and he still hadn't done it. I missed it again on Sunday because of this same oddity. Monday night I caught it at 10:30; Tuesday he did it at 8pm and then at 9pm on Wednesday. It wasn't like him. From the time he could bark as a puppy he would howl at sun set every evening, without fail. He was a creature of habit if nothing else, so this was strange. I walked over to him by the window that Wednesday night and observed closely with my hands on my hips.

"Hey, Angel?" I called out to Angela. Her head came through the open door shortly after.

"What's up?"

"Have you noticed anything strange about Blade lately?"

"Like what?"

"Like, he hasn't called for his dinner at his usual time over the past few days?"

"Uh….when was the last time he did his regular time?"

"Friday," I answered, then shot my hand up to my mouth with a tiny frown.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing," I answered hurriedly, shaking my head briskly. "I'm probably just tired. Sorry to bother you, Angel. Go to bed. Good night."

"Goodnight, Bells, and Blade," she hissed. "Put a sock in it."

Nothing was too peculiar to believe anymore, not since real life Gargoyles existed, and not since one turned out to be my guardian. So why would it be farfetched to think that the disturbance in Blade's routine had something to do with Edward showing up in our lives?

I bent over a little and nestled my fingers in the fur on top of Blade's head. It couldn't have been just a mere coincidence that the last night of Blade's sun set routine was also the last night we saw Edward. It could have been wishful thinking, and my esoteric need to link everything to him, but still, I was suspicious.

"Blade, does this have anything to do with Edward?"

He yelped in answer and perked up his ears up before running out of the room toward the back door. My heart skipped as I followed him, hoping that his behavior meant that Edward was around. I threw the back door open and burst out behind him. He galloped up the fire escape, past the Landlord's loft, to the roof. With a hesitant glance to the inside of the apartment, I took a deep breath and ran up the staircase, two steps at a time, to find him.

I wasn't surprised, though my heart dropped like a steel anchor to the bottom of my stomach, when there was no one up there beside Blade and I.

"Of course not," I mumbled, wrapping my arms around myself. I only then remembered that I was barefooted and without a coat.

Blade was licking feverishly at a spot on the floor of the roof. I glanced about warily and clutched the clasp of dust which was hung around my neck on a simple silver link. The danger Edward had warned me about came to mind in the darkness up there.

The roof was mostly flat with some 'generator-like' machines that hummed, and a few abandoned plant pots. However, there was no Edward. I hated to think that he _was_ actually up there but left when he heard us approaching. That's all he ever did since I met him; tried to avoid me.  
I moved to where Blade was licking and bent over to see. Because it was so dark I had to crouch over the spot and push him out of the way to get a better look. The first thing I saw was my name, etched into the concrete in an elegant script. Curious now, I passed my fingers over the letters of words that could only be Latin. I recognized the language from my Theology courses, though I didn't know how to translate it.

Etched with elegance and old world snobbery, the words words looked like they had been there forever, as if that roof and the building beneath came after and was built _around_ it - and not the other way around.

"Edward," I whispered to myself as I continued to touch it. Who else could it be? My name was there, and Edward spoke Latin. Plus, none of this strangeness had made its way to me before meeting him.

Coincidence? I thought not, unless there was another Bella associated with that building at another time.

"_Isabella, Decorde totaliter, Et ex mente tota, sum presentialiter, Absens in remota,"_ it read.

Blade had since moved on to sniffing another spot, but before I could get across to him, he moved on and started sniffing at a third set of words. I made way to the second spot and read:

"_Cur haec in terris facies humana moratur, nisi excrucio mihi?"_

Unable to understand any of it, I shuffled over to the third spot and with a deep frown, read the third and most elaborate of the three inscriptions.

"_Sic erit; haeserunt tenues in corde sagittae,  
et possessa ferus pectora versat amor.  
Cedimus, an subitum luctando accendimus ignem?  
cedamus! leve fit, quod bene fertur, onus."_

Intrigued now, I crept across the floor on my hands and knees, scouring for more. When I couldn't find any, I jumped to my feet and darted down the fire escape to the apartment below. Once inside I grabbed my coat, pulled on some socks and sneakers, fetched a pair of gloves and a scarf from my drawer, snatched my laptop off the bed, and blessed the sweet heavens for battery power and wireless connectivity.

Tiptoeing into the corridor, I checked to see that Angela was asleep, then hurried back to the roof with Blade, confident enough that I wouldn't be reprimanded for my ridiculousness.

I sat next to the first batch of words I'd found and searched for an online translator. The free ones were all terrible because they translated each word literally, possibly the worse thing anyone could do to a language, especially one as beautiful as Latin.

No, I wanted the proper thing, and after getting irritable in my search I finally found one that would work like I wanted, though not without first submitting my credit card number. Squealing at Blade with wide eyes, I typed the first set of words into the text box and submitted.

"_Isabella, decorde totaliter, Et ex mente tota, sum presentialiter, Absens in remota."_  
He wrote:  
"Isabella, with all my heart and all my soul, I am with you, even though I am far away."

The titilating pressure in my chest was hard to contain. Was he far away? Why did he leave? And would he come back?

I scurried to the second set of words and did the same thing, holding my breath until the translation gave itself to me.

"_Cur haec in terris facies humana moratur, nisi excrucio mihi?"_  
He wrote, and this one near stopped my heart:  
"Why does such mortal beauty exist on earth, if not to torment me?"

My eyes welled up with tears instantly. I had to take a deep breath to withstand onslaught of emotion.

He thought I was beautiful.

And it tormented him. Finally, someone that shared a fraction of my torment. With shaking hands I held the laptop carefully as I moved to the third set of words, wasting no time in slamming them into the text box for a translation.

"_Sic erit; haeserunt tenues in corde sagittae,  
et possessa ferus pectora versat amor.  
Cedimus, an subitum luctando accendimus ignem?  
cedamus! leve fit, quod bene fertur, onus."_

That one read:

"Thus it will be; slender arrows are lodged in my heart,  
and love vexes the chest that it has seized.  
Shall I surrender or stir up the sudden flame by fighting it?  
I will surrender, a burden becomes light when it is carried willingly."

To say that I froze in time was an understatement. Every pore and hair on my body stood erect, and my eyes latched on to the monitor like blood sucking leeches. I re-read the word 'love' so many times that the letters got distended and odd in appearance...almost as unrecognizable as the Latin itself. A single tear escaped my lids and scorched my cheek on its way down.

_Slender arrows are lodged in my heart….and love vexes the chest that it has seized…._

"Sweet Jesus," I choked out. With one hand I tried to push against the formidable lump that made it hard to breathe. "Does he _love_ me?"

By that point, there was nothing that could convince me that those words weren't written by him. Nothing. My heart was a physical discomfort in my body as I sat there, swollen to distension and heavy with everything from hope to fear. His absence was unbearable all of a sudden. I didn't know how or when it happened, but in that moment, I wanted him more than anything else I'd ever wanted. Since meeting him I was in a daze. My days blurred together and my nights were restless until wretched sleep took me. I had no desire to eat, or talk or do anything that wasn't Gargoyle related. And as crazy as it sounded, even to me, I was already falling in love with him. How could I not? He was a dream that came to life. I finally had a face to match the guardian. He showed himself to me in the flesh...or whatever it was he was made of, and whether or not it was love, there was a connection.

With tearful eyes I looked up at Blade and whispered.

"Could I really be...in love? With a _Gargoyle?_"

And why the hell not?

I went back up there the night after. When Angela went to bed, I prepared a thermos of hot cocoa, put on my warmest clothes, walked with my laptop, a candle, my pillow, Blade's mat, a knife, a bottle of Vodka for the morning, and a blanket.

I lay down on the blankets next to the lit candle and Blade plopped his heavy torso over my thighs. It helped that he was warm and cuddly. I continued reading and collecting as much information as I could about Gargoyles, using my thesis as an excuse when really all I wanted was to feed my new addiction to all things Edward.  
When my eyes burned and I couldn't take the glare anymore I leaned over and start scraping a message into the concrete with the knife. It was by no means as elegant as his script, but I wanted to leave something for him too, so that his words weren't left hanging without a response….cold and lonely in the dark like they were. Even in their tone, they sounded lonely.

As sleep started taking charge, I succumbed, dropping my head onto the pillow with my gaze turned toward the sky.  
"Where are you, Edward?"

XXX

The next morning, I awoke to the most disorienting realization. I wasn't on the roof when I awoke. I was in my bed.

"What the..._what_?"

I scampered out from under the sheets and toppled onto the floor clumsily. Blade was on his mat and all my things were on my night stand, the bottle of Vodka, the knife, the candle, my laptop and my thermos. On my bed were my pillows and blanket. Blade raised his head then and looked at me with helpless eyes. Then he got to his feet and started spinning in circles as if trying to catch his tail, then he ran out.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Angela grunted behind him. "I'm gonna let you out goddamn it. Stop eating the door!"

I stood like that, with one hand lodged in the roots of my hair, the other on my hip, and a frown etched so deep between my brows, my forehead hurt. I was still fully dressed in sweat pants, sweater and coat, socks and gloves.

Except, my scarf was on the floor and so were my sneakers.

"Oh dear God," I gasped with a hand over my mouth, taking off toward the kitchen door.

Angela was screaming her head off through the back door.

"He just took off and ran up to the ceiling!" She cried out when she saw me. "I swear…he's pushing me to the limit lately! Galloping all over the fucking place like a horse! We're gonna have to replace the kitchen door again, too!"

"It's ok. I'll get him," I panted as I took the steps two at a time.

Blade was again sniffing at the floor feverishly, letting out a bark every now and again. I stood over the spot we fell asleep in during the night and looked around suspiciously.

Someone or _something_ had taken both Blade and me to bed during the night, and didn't leave anything behind.

"He was here," I said to Blade, tapping my socked foot on the cold floor. "Who else could it be?"

I was restless all day after that. I bounced my heels off the floor in class. I skipped through lunch to read some more in the library, avoided non stimulating conversation with people….who the fuck cared anyway? I was Gargoyle obsessed and with one in particular, and after that very strange occurrence during the night, I was itching for the sun to set just so I could test it again.

Finally, when the day was over, I tossed my bag over my shoulder and headed toward my apartment on foot. I had to work that night. It was Friday, exactly one week after Edward kissed me, and though I really wanted to avoid Mike and the bar and plant myself on the rooftop, I had rent to pay.

"After work then," I said to myself as I pulled my coat on.

I fed Blade that night after noting that he _did not_ howl or bark at sunset like he usually did, scowled at my ignored reflection in the mirror, donned my uniform and grabbed my car keys.

"You and me boy," I said to Blade as I was leaving, bending over to kiss the top of his head. "Tonight. It's a date."

Barca was crowded like I loved it. There was noise and chaos everywhere which usually took my mind away. That night, however, I didn't need the distraction because I already was distracted.

I thought about Edward incessantly, and whenever the bells chimed over the entrance, my eyes shot up expectantly. I had bitten so hard into my bottom lip by half way through the night that it was sore and had started to taste rusty.

"Where's your head?" Jessica asked as she poured an Amaretto Sour for a girl at the bar.

"Thinking about my thesis," I answered, partial to the truth. "It's a lot of work and it's consuming me."

"Nerd much?" And she rolled her eyes. "You're here and thinking about homework."

"What would you prefer I think about, Jess?" I asked, busying myself by wiping the counter.

"Two beers on tap please," a guy ordered. He pushed right through to the front and leaned over the counter until he was practically in my face.

"Sure," I nodded. "But would you mind backing up a little first? Yeah? Thanks."

I poured the drinks and slid the mugs across to him then shoved the cash in my pockets.

"What's the deal with you and Eric,?" Jessica asked, swatting my ass with her towel. "You know that boy still pines for you."

"Please, don't start."

"Yeah baby! Do it again!" An obnoxious brute called from the end of the bar.

Liking the attention, Jessica obliged and swatted me again. I swore, the more I compared regular guys to Edward, the more removed I felt from reality. Everything about regularity was insignificant all of a sudden, mundane and colorless. Without Edward around I felt contained, as if I there was this whole new world of adventure out there just waiting for me to discover it.

It frustrated me... though not more than the insurmountable need to see him again. He was staying away from me because of the so-called danger being near to me caused. He had managed to convince me when I saw him last that being close to him was dangerous, especially when he stressed on the part that telling other people would forfeit their lives as well.

However, slowly but surely his silence started to wear on my will to cooperate. I knew myself. It was only a matter of time before I did something stupid to get his attention again. I was going crazy, and I hated feeling that way. I hated wanting him like that, like he was a bandit in the night who showed up unexpectedly and stole my heart. Not to mention that I wouldn't be able to explore what was happening inside of me. I didn't want to believe that I would have to keep it inside, unrequited and unsatisfied.

Obsessing over it was making me sick. Missing him….was making me sick. There were still so many things I didn't know about him and after only a sliver of the truth, I was already voraciously craving more. My mood shot itself to hell early into the night. I could barely concentrate through the din and the whirring faces before me. Eric tried to talk to me and though I tried to be polite, he started to complain which caused an argument, which then made him storm off.

Then there was Jessica who kept nudging me and pushing me to give my number to random guys over the bar. Mike kept clicking his fingers in front of my face and asking me to snap out of it, and the few idiots who actually took Jessica seriously were trying to proposition me.

By the end of the night I had a headache. I was tired and in dire need of a shower after having spilled enough grenadine syrup and chaser all over myself.  
Forty five minutes after my shift ended, I was thankfully showered and on the rooftop with Blade, glad that Angela had stayed at Ben's that night. Blade settled down with his head on his front paws and I, happily though abjectly, went back to etching my message in the concrete. Instead of hot chocolate that time, I walked with coffee because I didn't intend on falling asleep. Whoever it was that visited the night before wouldn't catch me off guard a second time.

"I still don't know how _you_ missed that," I said, pointing the knife loosely in Blade's direction. "Don't animals have a sixth sense or something? How the hell did you not know? Maybe you ought to be drinking coffee too."

Of course, the coffee didn't work like it was supposed to. Despite me fighting the wretchedness of sleep, it took me, and I awoke the next morning in my bedroom...again.

"Is this some kind of fucking game?" I grunted in annoyance, tossing the blankets to the side aggressively. "This blows."

I'd been tricked again.

The same thing happened on Sunday night, Monday night as well as Tuesday night. By Wednesday I wasn't having any more of it. In fact, I thought I went a long way before deciding to react disparagingly. I started to feel like I was being laughed at, teased and ridiculed.

My message to him on the roof was simple. I finished carving the letters to him and had written over them at least five times to make sure it couldn't be filed away easily.

"_Edward, I am waiting for you regardless of what that means. Please come to me. We need to talk. Isabella."_

If it really was him who kept taking me to my bed every night, then he'd have seen my message. But I got no response and that annoyed me. I had no right to expect anything more of him, I knew that. And I knew that I didn't know him long enough or well enough to feel as intensely as did already...far less than to expect him to reciprocate though I knew there was a connection.

But it had already happened and there was nothing I could do to change that. At the very least however, he owed me an explanation; a proper one this time. One that would give me closure, if nothing else.

I left Blade inside on Wednesday night and went to the roof alone with a blanket around my shoulders. I stood there with my eyes upward, waiting, knowing that if he gave me the choice I would leave everything behind and run away with him...right from the top of that roof, and never look back. Nothing else in ordinary life would ever compare to him. I knew he existed all along, even when family and friends in Forks pegged me for crazy, I held on to the faith that he was out there somewhere. And I was right.

Yes, I would leave everything behind if he wanted me to. I would gladly relinquish my role as a puppet embedded in moronic routine, and go wherever with him – hide even, if he thought we were in danger. My only regret would be leaving Blade behind.

A letter I had written to him earlier that day was folded in my pocket. After standing up there for close to an hour with no sign of him, I placed it under a plant pot and walked away.

_Edward, _

_I get it. I don't understand it but I realize that perhaps, understanding as it pertains to you, will always evade me. It's been that way ever since we first met three years ago and maybe it's something I have to accept - again. I know that you are protecting me by staying away even though I don't know what from. I know also that, that kind of selflessness can only come from love. I think that you love me. I don't want to be arrogant enough to assume, but if the poems I found on the roof are yours – then maybe you do._  
_I wish you would tell me. I held on to the idea of you for three years. And now that I have finally met you, you're all I think about. You have no idea how big of a deal this is for me. It's almost excruciating._

_I think I may be falling in love with you. Please don't think I'm foolish. It's not something I can help. Still, you only have to say the word, Edward, and I will go with you anywhere. I will run away with you. I will turn my back on this life if I thought I could see you again._

_I understand that we are different, that we can't coexist where there is danger of your exposure since it isn't allowed, but I beg for the chance. _  
_You kissed me and then disappeared. That was cruel. I've been left open and wanting more, wanting you in ways that even I am ashamed of, and that upsets me. _  
_If you gave me the chance, I would keep your secret safe. It would die with me whether or not I ever see you again. I promise you._  
_I know you've been taking me to bed every night this week, thought I don't understand why you won't show yourself. If you can get close enough to help me, you can let me see you again._

_Please don't be angry with me, but I am giving you until the end of tonight to come to me. If you love me like your words on my rooftop suggest, then you will. Or so help me God, Edward, I will make you come to me again._

_I don't think I can stop myself anymore. Please forgive me._

_Isabella._

With one last glance at the letter sticking out from under the plant pot, I looked at the sky, too a deep breath, then left.

I walked slowly, trying to stretch my ears for the sounds of him because I knew he was fast enough to find that letter and read it before I made it inside. But quiet a Gargoyle was, because I didn't hear when a pair feet much lighter than Edward's landed soundlessly behind me.

My hand was already on the door knob, but a voice I hadn't heard before startled me to a halt.

"Isabella, wait," a girl said.

I whipped around in alarm, half expecting to see Rosalie again, but the face that stared back at me with grey twinkling eyes was much gentler, though by no means any less sphinx-like.

With a face as chalky and pretty and a china doll's, she stepped forward and nodded.

My throat was laced with panic, especially when she raised her hand and handed me my own letter – the one I had just left for Edward.

"It wasn't Edward that took you to bed this week, Isabella. It was me. Hello, my name is Alice."

XXX

**A/N: That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed. Were you shocked it was Alice?**


	8. Chapter 7 Twilight

A/N: Thank you for the support on this story. I didn't think a wacko idea like this one would be so well liked. I'm inspired. Please forgive my corny reference to the theme Twilight in this chapter's title. It is actually the time of the day that the Gargoyle's come to life. So there_ is_ some significance. :p

Happy reading.

* * *

**Chapter seven **

**Twilight**

**Bella**

Hesitantly, and with wary eyes held to hers, I raised my hand and took the letter from her hand.

"Hello," I answered on a released breath.

She pulled up one side of her mouth in a quirky, half smile and passed her eyes over me. It was immediately obvious to me that she was one of them, a Gargoyle, because after knowing Edward and what he told me, there was no mistaking the similarities between them. Her features were a remarkable combination of hard and soft, sharp and curved, pretty and dark. The end result was mesmerizingly beautiful though frightening, and those eyes were unlike any other gray on earth. They made me think of liquid silver… exactly like Edward's.

"May I call you Bella?" She asked, with a slight tilt of her head.

I blinked out of my trance and bobbed my head stiffly. "Yes, of course. Bella is fine."

After another awkward silence or maybe it was just me that was awkward because Alice seemed as calm as a zephyr, I invited her in. Blade was screaming his doggie lungs out and scratching on the other side of the door, no doubt because he sensed Alice's ethereal presence.

"Thank you," she said, when I opened the door for her to pass. Her voice was small, like a child's that was inundated with wisdom. And for some reason I couldn't imagine it ever sounding threatening.

Blade pounced toward her the moment she stepped inside and she found the top of his head with her hand, touching him exactly like Edward did. Something about that touch always calmed him down because the instant she did it, he let out a small whimper and backed out of the way so that she could pass, worshipping her almost by trailing her feet with his nose. I remembered the distinct difference in his behavior when Rosalie was around. He was irate one minute then frozen the next, clamped up like he was being held against his will. It wasn't anything like this. The second Rosalie walked away he snapped out of the trance and charged off after her ferociously, as if a spell of some sort had been alleviated.

When I saw the way Alice touched him, I relaxed, sensing that she wasn't a threat after all. I was however, still anxious, because Edward had led me to believe that they weren't allowed to mingle with humans, much like she seemed to be doing right then, standing in my apartment. And I was pretty darned sure she_ was_ a Gargoyle. So there had to be a good reason for her visit and I cringed to think just _how_ good that reason might be.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" I asked, once we were inside. She turned to face me and cocked her chin slightly to one side. "You're like Edward." I couldn't bring myself to say 'the word' in the slight chance that I was wrong.

"Hmm," she sang, smiling, yet at the same time, not. "I'm not sure how to answer that question, or how to deal with you for that matter, Bella."

"What do you mean by _deal with me_?" I frowned.

"I've been watching you for a while, and it's almost as if your condition has somehow….rubbed off on me, for want of a better phrase" she said, with a sideways bend of her head. "Now I find myself in an unfamiliar predicament."

She might as well have been singing for the way her words seemed to dance out of her prettily shaped mouth.

"I uh…sorry?" I blinked, slightly dazzled by her. "I'm not following you. What condition do I have exactly?"

"Curiosity, Bella." She smiled at me as if she were coaxing a toddler. "The condition of troublesome curiosity."

"Oh."

"I read your letter."

"_Ohhhh_…."

"And that's why I'm here."

She walked over to the sitting area then turned back to me with her hands clasped in front her. The smile that played on her lips ever since she walked in fell away abruptly, and my heartbeat staggered slightly when she turned to face me with narrowed her eyes. "Edward isn't coming back to you, Bella."

I felt my eyebrows pull together morosely at the finality with which she said it. I swallowed, tried to ignore the distention in my chest and listened to her continue, because there just wasn't anything to say to something like that.

"He's not coming back because he can't, and because he shouldn't," she continued. "You weren't supposed to meet him like you did. He stepped out of bounds by showing himself to you and…."

"I've heard all of this before," I cut her off, finding the extra ounce of courage to speak up. I hated the way the words "_can't_" and "_shouldn't_" kept associating themselves with Edward. "Aren't you doing the same thing right now by being here? Stepping out-of-bounds?"

"That's different," she said in a matter of fact tone. "When Edward came to you he didn't only expose himself, he exposed all of us. The truth is already out because of him, so as it is right now, I am not the one guilty of exposure since you are already aware. Knowing _who_ I am is in no way as significant as knowing_ what_ I am. And since you already know the 'what' part, all I am after that is just a face with a name. Do you understand how it is different?"

"Sort of," I answered, folding my arms defensively. "I guess."

"More important than keeping our secret at this stage, is keeping _you _a secret. I need you to understand how dangerous it is for you, now that you know about us. You said in your letter that you don't fully appreciate what it is Edward is trying to protect you from. He's trying to protect you from the danger he put you in by first saving your life when he wasn't supposed to, and then by telling you the truth about himself. Your life can be taken away from you, for one, because you were supposed to die with your parents the night of your accident, and more importantly because it's dangerous for _us_ when humans know. That alone gives the Legion a reason to silence you."

I knew it. I was supposed to die that night. A winding sensation passed through me all of a sudden, and I had to sit down.

"What do you mean by he wasn't supposed to save my life?" I asked as I walked toward the couch blindly.

She skipped over my question as if she didn't hear it and continued.

"One way or another, if the Legion finds out about you they will force you into silence either by taking your life to restore the balance or by making you take a vow."

"What kind of vow," I whispered.

"A vow of silence….set by making you one of us."

I found the couch with blind hands and fell into it, allowing my eyes to fall absently on the coffee table, hardly seeing it in front of me at all.

"Why is it such a dreadful secret?" I asked softly. "What's so bad about people knowing about you? It's not like you're evil or anything. You help people…right? You're like….angels, almost. Guardians. Won't people like that? Why does it have to be a secret? People would like that."

"Because knowing the truth about us puts us at_ your_ mercy, which would shift the balance between humans and Gargoyles drastically. We cannot become vulnerable to you, or our purpose here would be refuted. A war would most certainly be imminent and the very essence of our being would be nullified.

"People are like sheep, Bella. Their motives are easily swayed. They need constant guidance. They are emotionally volatile, selfish, cast in vanity and some will do anything for power; even kill their own brother to have it. Too many will sell their souls to become like us for all the wrong reasons and others will rise up against us just out of spite. We would then have no choice but to retaliate. So you see why, in order to maintain peace and avoid chaos, our existence _needs_ to be a secret."

"How can you ever be vulnerable to humans?" I asked, raising my eyes to hers. "There's no way. You're…supernatural, ridiculously fast and strong. I'm sure you have special abilities, _and _you can fly. How does knowing about you make you vulnerable to us?"

"I can't answer that question."

I licked my lips and pulled the bottom one into my mouth between my teeth. Then after a few seconds of thought, I spit it out.

"But if I keep the secret, it shouldn't matter," I pressed on. "I'll never tell it. I won't. You're in no danger of being exposed by me. And as long as Edward keeps _me_ a secret which I totally don't mind, there's no need for him to stay away, is there? What is he doing exactly? Pretending that I don't know him? Trying to move on in the hope that I'll forget about him? I don't see how any of that is protecting me."

"But it is," she said. "He's not supposed to make contact with you beyond the parameters of his guardianship. If you're in trouble, he helps, stays as invisible as possible, and that's it. He's supposed to move on afterward. He's already crossed too many lines with you and the more he hangs around you, the harder it is for him to hide it, and the more danger _you_ are in of being discovered.

"You're both attached to each other and absolutely no good can come from it. It is not allowed Bella. Staying away from you is what is best for you and he knows that. All you can do is accept it. I had to come to you and make you understand this after reading your letter tonight. Your threat of going out there to find him _cannot_ and_ will not_ happen. You will die and that's all there is to it. I understand that you're in love with him, and as peculiar as that may be for me to understand, I will try to look past it. But if you love him Bella, you will not torture him by getting yourself hurt or by putting him in any more trouble than he already is."

I dropped my eyes to the floor and fingered the little metal clasp that rested against my chest, the concept of Edward never coming back gutting through me like a larcenous flame, stealing my hopes and just basically doing everything to crush me.

"But things have happened," I complained in a mindless stupor, getting to my feet. "Irreversible things, things I can't ignore. I'm...attached. I do love him, and I can't believe anything in the universe would reject a thing like love. Nothing is bigger than love…_nothing_. Do you even understand what has happened between us?"

"Bella, it doesn't matter…"

"Of course it matters," I interrupted her. "It matters because it has to. He saved my life. Twice! And despite his rules and all this talk about forbidden stuff, he stayed close to me. He kept watch over me all this time, and I think I always felt it subconsciously. I couldn't let go of this faith I had in his existence. I held on to him in my heart and with my mind, and refused to let him be a figment of my imagination even when everyone thought I was crazy. And so he broke your precious rules, but he broke them for love. That has to mean something."

She looked at me incredulously for a while, passed her eyes over my face and hair, and pinned her lips together.

"He stayed with me all these years, hasn't he?" I squared off with her.

"Yes."

"There."

"Bella, the issue here isn't his feelings for you. I know how he feels, so you needn't feel like you have to prove yourself to me."

"Look." I calmed down and exhaled a shaky breath through my lips. It took me a few seconds to steady myself before I could continue, and even then I couldn't get my voice to stop shaking. "I'm sorry. I'm don't mean to take this out on you. It's not your fault, I know that. But I don't think you really understand."

I couldn't resist the tears that broke free then, and under the wraithlike assessment in her eyes, I felt as small as a pebble.

"Just look at you," I said, gesturing to her with my hand. "If I were you I'd probably look at me and snort too. What do I know about anything right? I'm just this human, college undergraduate girl with no real life, no motivation for much, and no zest for anything other than a bottle of Tequilla and a shaggy dog. But what I felt between him and I was bigger than me. It was bigger than anything I've ever known."

It wasn't lost on me either, that I seemed to be the only one fighting for 'us'. There wasn't even an 'us' to fight for. Nothing but a few intense moments and a spellbinding kiss had passed between us. So why was I holding on so tightly to a dream? And where was Edward anyway? Where was he while I stood there falling to pieces over something that may never see the light of day?

"You are not insignificant, Bella," she said softly with a small step forward. There was tenderness in her voice, or maybe it was mistaken pity, but I rather liked the way it came at me. "You are the reason we exist. Our purpose on this earth centers on you and every other human being in this world. What kind of protectors would we be if we allowed you to walk right into danger without trying to stop you?"

"You mean to tell me that he really isn't coming back?" I asked. "Ever? He's really going to stay away from me?"

She nodded pensively with darkness in her stare.

"And you. What are you exactly, his replacement? Did he send you to look after me or something?"

"He asked me to keep you safe, yes."

"So it was you who took me to bed every night for the past week?"

"Yes."

"_What_?"

"I'm sorry that disappoints you."

I folded my arms and sulked like a rotten child. I was dissapointed, yes. I had wanted it to be him so badly because it would have meant that he was nearby, watching over me, though at a distance. It felt like he cared.

"You should have just left me up there to freeze to death," I uttered, snatching the Selenite from around my neck and bruising myself in the process.

"Bella what are you doing?"

"Take it back to him." I said, handing it out to her.

She frowned seriously and bored her stare through my skull.

"Take it back to him. I don't want it."

"You can't do that."

"I can do whatever I want to do."

"No actually, you can't. You made a pact with Edward and you can't break it."

"Can't, can't can't. It's all I ever hear anymore."

I tossed the Selenite across the room and listened to the sound of it slide across the floor.

"Bella, without that, you are naked. Selenite shields you from a Gargoyle's powers."

That, I didn't know.

All Edward kept saying was how important it was to wear it and that it would protect me, but he didn't say why. Had I been allowed more than three measly questions the last night he was there, I'd have gotten around to asking about the Selenite too.

"It wasn't a gift," Alice said, turning on her heels and walking over to it briskly. "It was given to you for a specific reason. Without this any Gargoyle with a good enough motive can hurt you."

"Like Rosalie?"

"Like the Elders. Rosalie is by no means the worst there is. You can't breech a contract made with a Gargoyle Bella - ever. You have to keep it."

She held the Selenite out to me but I folded my arms and stared down at it stubbornly.

"Or what? Death too?" I turned away from her, but she made it around me quicker than I could blink and was face to face with me again.

"There are things worse than death….."

"I know," I bit out, pointing a finger at my own chest. "There's this."

"If this is a stunt to get him to come back to you…"

"You know what I wish sometimes? Sometimes I wish he left me to die that night three years ago. Sometimes I wish I'd never met him since knowing him makes me feel this way. You don't know what it's like to be human, to be teased with something so...perfect, only to have it taken away from you. Do you know how amazing it feels to be desired by someone...by some_thing_ like him? He's all I want now. He's all I think about to the point where I swear it's eating me alive. I see him everywhere I look. I can't study. I can't eat. I can't focus. I'm possessed by these thoughts of him. It's horrible. I'm pining for something I don't even know, and it's driving me crazy."

"Now do you see why we're not supposed to mingle with humans?"

"..."

"Because of this," she said, pointing to me. "By nature you are prone to addiction. You are easily seduced by things greater than you. You want. You need and you suffer easily. You know him only a few weeks and already you feel like you cannot live without him. It will only get worse Bella. Him being around you is not good for you. You weren't built to withstand the kind of things he is capable of."

"You don't know what I was built for."

"You were all built the same."

"Maybe I am capable of more than you think," I said to her stubbornly. "Maybe I'll surprise you. Opposites are known to attract and when they do, they stick."

"Bella, don't be foolish. That's rather idealistic."

"What are you going to tell me next? That you've seen Gargoyles and humans try to be together before and it ended in tragedy? Well I don't care. If Edward doesn't want to be with me, he'll just have to come here and tell me himself."

She shook her head and bent it slightly, expelling a small breath through her dainty looking lips.

"It's not that he doesn't want to be with you, Bella. If he could have, he would. I know that."

"Then I don't _care_ about rules." I leaned forward and grabbed the hanging chain link from her fingers and held it up in the space between us. "You say this can protect from Gargoyles right? Great."

I tried to put it back around my neck but the hook was broken so I shoved it into my pocket instead.

"Then let them come," I said, and walked over to my letter on the kitchen countertop. "I won't let go. I've waited way three years for him to come to me, and was called crazy because of it. If he loves me and I love him, nothing should be able to stop us, and _this_ will protect me. I don't know what's gotten into me, but if you know anything about human nature, it's that we're drawn to things we can't have. I'll go somewhere with him where we can be alone. I meant that when I wrote it. There's nothing holding me here. I have no parents and no friends that I would trade Edward for. My job is menial and school can suck it. Blade is the only one I would hate to be separated from, and so maybe I'll take him too."

She was shaking her head adamantly, her eyes flashing between mine with frustration and determination.

"That won't make sense," she said. "Running makes absolutely no sense. He'll never run away with you."

"Then let him tell me himself. I won't give up until he comes here himself, and God help you all if he agrees with me. Something will have to stop me dead in my tracks."

"Then maybe you ought to know exactly what will stop you dead in your tracks if you insist on being stupid," she said simply. Her eyes got like two dark pools of water. I flinched involuntarily with a step backward as the creek of black water came back to mind.

"Maybe you ought to know why it makes no sense for you to force this, or to insist that you put both yourself and Edward through unnecessary trauma."

She took small but deliberate steps toward me, and those eyes that were just so vivid and silvery a few minutes ago, were now almost black with contention.

"I don't care," I whispered.

"Oh, you will."

"I won't."

"Edward is dying, Bella."

And I froze...like a cold blast of frost had been sprayed over me, staring at her with a horrified expression. She nodded slowly with cautious eyes, their color slowly turning back to gray as I ingested what she had just said.

"What?"

"You have no future together," she said softly, almost a whisper. "Because he's going to die."

"What do you...what are you...how can you say something like...what?"

"The details aren't mine to give," she answered. "But he has one month left before he expires."

"What...like milk?" I gapsed, disbelivingly, grabbing her arms without thinking. "Expired?"

"I can't talk about it."

"Oh great," I gasped, staring at her with wide eyes. "You tell me everything else and choose to stop at this. Is he sick?"

"No, Gargoyles don't get sick. We are immortal."

"Well clearly not if he's going to die? What's wrong with him?"

"Bella…." By the traces of panic on her face I saw that she had gone too far and had already said too much. She was retreating now, and all that did was drive me crazy with anxiety.

"Alice, please. You have to tell me," I begged, swallowing hard.

Blade sympathized with my panic and rubbed his side against my leg with a soft whimper. She noticed him briefly, glanicing downward, then she adjusted her black cloak with sturdy hands and nodded sharply.

"I have to leave now," was all she said.

"What?" I exclaimed. "You can't leave, not after telling me something like that. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Something like disdain crosed her face but was quickly replaced by impatience as she turned and made for the door.

"Alice, pleeease," I called.

"What happened here tonight was crucial," she snapped, spinning on point to look at me. "I've said way too much. I came here tonight out of curiosity, because your letter stirred something unfamiliar in me, and because after watching you wait for him like were every night, I felt like I had to come to you and make you understand...out of kindness. I can see how it's easy to fall for you, Bella. There's something pure and untouched about your spirit that entices protectiveness, but that's all it can be. Protection. Let go of Edward now. Give up this obsession with trying to reach him or else it will be out of our hands and we won't be able to protect you anymore."

In a flash she was out the door, and despite my running out after her, she was nowhere. I searched the sky but to no avail, and my tears came down harder.

"No way," I cried as I raised a shaky hand to my mouth. I stared at Blade in horror, unable to conceptualize the thought of Edward dying.

What did it mean? If they were immortal, why was Edward going to die? I ran back into the house in a flustered panic, slammed the door angrily behind me and started to pace the floor in impassioned agitation. I didn't know what else to do. I needed to see him. Nothing was more important then than getting to him. Halfway through my conversation with Alice I'd almost given in and believed that there was no way we could be together, and that seeing him was impossible. And to some extent that effect stayed with me. But now that I knew he was going to die in one month, nothing else mattered but getting to him. There was absolutely no way I could sit back and accept it without getting answers. And if it was true, I was not going to deny myself seeing him...even if it meant for the last time.

I went through agony that night. I cried my eyes out. I screamed into my pillows. I drank a hell of a lot more than a few shots. I pushed Blade away. I locked myself in my room and no matter how I tried, I couldn't sleep.

At 2am I opened my door to find Blade sleeping in the corridor, curled into a furry ball by my door. And that made me cry again. I fell on my knees to hug him and offered a teary apology for being a bitch by locking him out. Blade held no grudges. He didn't know how to. He licked my face and trekked into the room then took his place on his mat by the foot of my bed.

The sun rose with me in that state. I was exhausted but I still couldn't sleep and my anxiety contsrticted my chest in too many places all at once. At 8 o'clock, the beginnings of a headache came on and I dragged myself back to bed to try to force myself to sleep.

At 10' o clock my cell rang and on realizing it was Angela, I switched it off. She had spent the night at Ben's. I wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody or explain why I wasn't at school. Besides Edward, there was no one else I wanted to talk to and Blade didn't count because he didn't have a choice but to put up with me. And of course, just the thought of talking to Edward made me cry again and the pressure made my head clamour in rebellion. I pressed a pillow over my head and tried to block the world and the light out, but nothing comforted me.

By that afternoon I was half crazy, and being cooped up indoors all day made it worse. More than once I had worked up the courage to drive over to the bell tower but had talked myself out of it every time. Apprehension about what I might encounter over there kept me away...for the while. I was an unnattractive mess of nerves and despair, so much that I didn't know what to do with myself.

Late into the afternoon, when I couldn't take it anymore, I put Blade's leash on and decided to take him for a run, looking for a distraction at most from my frustration. On my way out I ran into Angela.

"I've been worried sick about you all day!" She shrieked as she came up the path toward me. "Why haven't you answered any of my calls or messages?"

"Yeah, about that," I said with a frown. "I'm sorry, I turned my phone off this morning."

"What the hell for?"

"I've had a headache and I needed to vegetate for a while."

She made a face at me and patted Blade unconsciously. "I wish you told me. I'd have brought you some soup or something."

"I couldn't eat it anyway, but thanks. I'm taking Blade for a run."

She observed my tracks and sneakers. "Should you be jogging if you're sick?"

"I'll be ok," I said, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "See you later."

"Ok," she said, unconvinced. "Take it easy though."

It turned out that I couldn't run much anyway. I was too exhausted and got winded easily. Walking helped, albeit not as much as the run would have, and just before the sun started to set I turned around and made my way back to the apartment. Going back was a lot quicker than going to and as soon as I made it into the house I fed Blade, took a quick shower, put on some warm clothes, grabbed my car keys and purse, and headed for the door.

I tried, I really did, to find peace with it all, or at the very least to accept what I had to. The walk was supposed to clear my head and put things into perspective, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to see him. And if Alice was right, and Edward really had only one more month to live, that was all the reason I needed to break the rules one last time.

I needed answers and I knew I would never be able to rest through the torture of wondering about him every minute of every goddamned day; about where he was, if he was ok and what was happening to him. I'd have gotten infinitely more obsessed and driven myself clinically mad with anxiety. More than that, if one month came and went and I didn't see him, I'd have regretted not trying to find him. There was no other choice to be made.

"Where are you going?" Angela asked.

"To the pharmacy," I lied. "Just need to get a few painkillers. Be back soon."

"Bella, we have plenty of Motrin here."

I sighed and sent her a pleading look.

"Are you sneaking out to see some guy?" She widened her eyes gullibly and clasped her hands together. "You look pretty."

_Sneaking out to see a Gargoyle, is more like it._

"No," I said. "And stay out of my business. I'll be back later."

"You _are _sneaking out to see a guy. That's why you're being so strange and secretive! And you're wearing lipstick! You're always like that when a guy's involved. It's Edward isn't it?" She squealed, pointing a teasing finger at me.

I almost choked on my own breath, and I just knew I had gone stark white in shock when she said his name. I didn't even remember the morning she heard me calling his name in my sleep. The only thing I could think in my shock was: _How the hell does she know about Edward_?

I felt like a moron when she reminded me right after.

"The hunk from your dreams? The one who made you...you know... I knew he was real. Anyone who could make you scream like that in a dream has to be awesome."

I flushed intensely and blinked away self consciously.

"Stop being ridiculous," I said as I walked through the front door. "You know as well as I do how terrible I am at men, and this is not called sneaking out. It's called telling my roommate goodnight and going off about my own business. See you later."

I blew her a kiss and jumped into my car. I had the Selenite in my jeans pocket, a small torch, and Edward's letter in my purse. The sun was just setting and the view through the windscreen across the city skyline was a pretty orange-ish, blue. Twilight.

I didn't know what I was going to do once I got to the cemetery, but I knew I had to get his attention, and so far the only way I knew to do that was to incense him. There was so much that still needed to be said, and by God, he was going to let me say it.

Not long after, I pulled up in front of Mill Creek Pet Cemetery and left the engine running. I sat in the car and stared inside for a while, motionless and nervous. It was awfully dark in there, and I first had to build sufficient courage to face my demons on the way to him. Cutting through the mini forest behind the iron gate would be impossible in the dark, but I hoped that just being in the general vicinity alone would get his attention.

So I turned off the ignition, took a deep breath, and stepped into the cold Seattle night.

"You're gonna make me walk all the way in there aren't you, Edward?" I mumbled. "It would be too easy for you to just appear right here where it's busy and where there's light….right?"

I made sure to leave the door unlocked in case I needed to run back to the car in a hurry. Though why I thought I could outrun a Gargoyle was beyond me. Still, I had seen one too many horror movies where the damsel in distress just couldn't get the fucking door unlocked, where she could escape the zombies that were somehow gaining on her on their wobbly, dragging feet. That would not be me.

"Just do it, Bella," I said, with one hand tightly clasped around the Selenite in my pocket, my purse hung on one shoulder, and my torch in the other hand. I then braved the Mill Creek cemetery gates.

It was dark of course, and the few light poles that littered the place gave nothing significant by means of light. So I shone my flashlight forward and made my way through the headstones very slowly, trying to ignore the screaming heart in my throat and the sound of my rushing blood inside of my ears.

I turned and looked back over my shoulder toward the street where my car was parked, gulped and turned toward the cemetery again. It looked even darker in there when I turned back. Nothing but black silhouettes and shadows stood before me, tall and short, wide and narrow, looming trees that looked like they were outstretched toward me with their long spirally arms. I could even make out mist up ahead behind the light of my torch. I stopped to take a deep breath, wondering if any of this was worth it, ready to turn around and run toward my car to either drive away or wait for him in the car.

_Damn my fear of the dark_, I mentally scolded myself.

I turned back around toward the cemetery then with my light pointed ahead, just about to chicken out and return to my car when my beam passed over an ominous figure in front of me. The sight made me jump back and out of my skin. I dropped the torch in my alarm and tured to run.

But for some reason, I couldn't move. My fright rooted me to the spot, locked my limbs in place and made me immobile...the perfect prey. Whoever or whatever it was in front of me, it was huge; tall and anything but slender with a long veil of hair. And though I couldn't see his face because my torch was now on the floor, the lasting image in my head had chiseled features and a grim, uncompromising expression. There was no friendliness or warmth in that face in the two seconds that I saw it, and the shadows that went upward from his chin when my light caught his face from below, made him look like a phantom. Especially also, and like everything else in that eerie place, he did. not. move.

His stillness and his silence drove a cold chill down my spine. Whether or not he was human, I was terrified, and I found myself wishing earnestly that he was a Gargoyle. The Selenite in my pocket could protect me from a Gargoyle. I had no defense against a deranged human.

Just when I thought I had reached the pinnacle of my fright threshold, two more silhouettes like his emerged from behind and came to a stop at his sides. I placed a hand over my mouth and smothered a scream, eyes welling with water, stumbling backward...too terrified to do anything but fumble backward and stare. I noticed the way their long black coats fanned around them when they moved, just like Edward's did when he walked.

The three of them stood there before me and said nothing, still, looming, unmoving and utterly bizarre. I knew right then what they were. No human being would just stand and stare at me like that without moving for so long, nor could they if they tried.…not _that_ still. They would have gone about their business by then, ignored me completely, cussed me for staring, laughed at me for being stupid, or tried to attack me. At the very least a human would have said something to me by then either in threat or out of curiosity…anything. Then finally, one of them spoke.

"It's her," she said. A female, and she sounded familiar. It wasn't Alice, so I guessed perhaps, that it was Rosalie.

"What should we do with her?" A male voice asked.

"Where's Edward?" The female spoke again.

"Not far away," the one in front answered, sounding just as frightening as he looked.

"He'll be here soon," the female said. "Get the Selenite from her, fast."

"_WHAT_?" I shrieked, and all at once they came toward me.

That second in time slowed down infinitesimally. They moved so fast that their bodies turned into a blur, the same time I spun around in pure, unadulterated fright and tried to run. But as soon as I turned, I slammed face first into a solid, opaque wall and was winded immediately. Before I could open my eyes to see what I had turned into, something cold and harsh wrapped itself around my shoulders and pulled me harder against it, constricting me, and completely encasing me in darkness. All of that happened in a blind second.

Literally, my heart catapulted inside of my chest. The only thing it didn't do was burst with the way it slammed behind my breast bone. Panic wasn't the word for what I felt. This was worse. This was painfully similar to the fright of being deadlocked in a car trapped under water.

My eyes opened but it was pitch black inside of the cocoon. I started to hyperventilate. Whatever it was, it was hard all around. It smelled like Edward. My arms were pinned to my side. I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I could barely breathe. It closed in tighter around me, crushing me like the embrace of a psychotic lover. I heard the echo of a hiss. I felt it move with me. My feet dragged across the ground. It jerked to a rough stop. My face felt like it was slammed against the hard surface again with the jerk. It hurt like fuck. The smell was comforting because it smelled like Edward but the smothering was soon to make me pass out. I could hear enraged, muffled voices on the outside, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I couldn't hear anything above the screaming tirade of my heartbeat. I tasted the bile that rushed into my throat. I tried to breathe. I tried to push the air in and out but there was no air in there to help. Whatever it was it was crushing me. Whatever it was it smelled strongly of Edward and the booming, echoing voice that came through the surface against my ear, though horribly distorted, sounded like him as well. I closed my eyes again as every nerve reactor in my body went into a catatonic state, and even though my eyes were closed, I still felt them roll to the back of my head. That was it, I was passing out. I could barely survive the claustrophobia, far less the darkness on top of it. My voice was strangled, I couldn't move. My elbows were digging into my ribs. I needed to vomit. I was dying….again. They had found me and decided I couldn't live. I still had the Selenite on me. I thought it was supposed to work. I thought it was supposed to protect me. Maybe they were quicker than I thought and had gotten it from me without me even realizing it.

The barriers closed in tighter around me then, crushing even my thoughts before they had the chance to form, and just as I tasted the first wave of vomit, I was consumed by the black crypt, and I passed out.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed. :) The chapters after this one have not yet been edited, which in my language means tweaked and re-written, but I'm working on that currently. Thank you for reading.


	9. Chapter 8 The Lion & The Lamb

**Hey guys :) Thanks for the reviews on chap 7. **

**Set in Stone just got a banner made by the lovely Tkegl. Please check it out on my blog, in the "My Stories" section.**

**Yet another not so subtle reference to Twilight in the title of this chapter, *eye roll*, bear with me please.**

**Happy reading :) Forgive typos? Still being beta'd.**

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**Chapter 8 **

**The lion & the lamb**

**Bella**

I kept waking up and passing over and over again, too many times for me to count by the time it was over. There were times when I thought I was moving and times when I thought the howling and rushing wind would eat my ears clean off. There were times when I felt so tightly wrapped inside and against something as solid as a brick wall, that the howling sounds faded and turned into haunting echoes on the outside. The only thing that remained constant through my blind reach for coherency was the feeling of being carried. Each time I struggled for movement, whatever it was that kept me entrapped would squeeze itself tighter around me, smothering me against my own muffled pleas, until I passed out again. Cruel almost, but purposeful, because had I regained complete consciousness at any point during that ordeal, and realised that I was being carried through the sky at thousands of miles an hour...I may have died.

The last time I awoke that night was by far the worse. Not only did everything come flooding back at a raging pace, I picked up right where I left off with my nausea. The moment I opened my eyes and inhaled the frosty air, I keeled over to the side and expunged my guts. Paranoia took hold of me next and before I even realized that Edward was right next to me, I started to scream. Frantically, I turned around on the spot, in search of my constrictor and the threat of being attacked again. But instead, I was met with the gift of his voice.

"Isabella, you're alight. You're safe," he said, bringing his cool hands down over my arms. I could have passed out again just from the relief of seeing him. His silvery eyes blazed into mine with cogent anxiety, and just for a while, everything else in the world withered and died.

"I'm here. It's me," he said softly, pulling me against him in a cradling embrace. "But you need to relax. You'll be weak."

"Edward…" I gasped, though it sounded more like a high pitched squeal. I wrapped shaky arms around him, my legs buckling at the knees underneath me. I didn't know where I was, but at that time it didn't matter. He had a way of blotting everything else out within a thousand mile radius.

"What happened?" I asked.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and with a gentle tug pulled me upward and placed my feet on his. His scent filled me, through my nostrils to every other aching part of my body. That scent was the last thing I remembered before fainting in the cemetery.

"Sit," he said, lowering us both to the floor where he held me in his lap.

I almost laughed in disbelief when he passed his fingers through my hair, overwhelmed by the fact that I was actually in his arms...alone with him. The next reaction was to cry, because the stress of getting to that point had finally run its course.

He tried to be gentle with unyeilding hands, stroking my hair, wiping my my tears, hushing me quietly. He waited unil I'd gotten most of it out of my system and didn't move a muscle.

"You keep saving me," I said.

"You keep putting yourself in situations that require saving," he answered gently, with a smile in his voice.

The feeling of his strong hold was frighteningly similar to the suffocating sensation I'd experienced before when he crushed me nearly to death in flight. I had to shift my weight in his lap and turn my face out for air, and on sensing my lingering anxiety, he opened his arms slightly and let me move.

"Where are we?" I asked, frowning in genuine awe as I looked out at the magnanimous view which spread for miles into the night. We were on a rooftop somewhere, a very intricately designed rooftop with latice work, railing and rafters that looked centuries old. One thing I knew for sure...we weren't in Seattle anymore.

"Would you belive me if I told you?" He asked, dipping his face to run his nose against my cheek softly.

With a racing heart, I took a deep breath and smiled, turning to face him again. "Do I have a choice?"

For all his affection, he still look torn and conflicted. And the apology in his eyes made my insides churn. For once, I wanted him to look comfortable with me, and not like he was a convict being caught in the act of something morally wrong.

"It might frighten you," he said. "You need to be ready."

"Tell me. I'm ready for anything as long as I'm with you."

"Your innocence is touching, but tragic I'm afraid. You're so ready to throw your life away on a whim...grabbing for something you know nothing about."

"You are not a whim."

"I most definitely am," he came back quickly with narrowed eyes. "Especially now."

That was the moment I remembered what Alice told me about his impending death and my heart caved on contact with the memory.

"Is it really true?" I whispered with asking eyes. I was holding his face, but he held my hands and pulled them away where he could fold them in his lap. "Alice told me...she told me that you're going to die."

He interlaced our fingers and stroked my skin with his thumbs. And whether it was his hesitance to answer or the crushing affirmation in his expression, I knew right then that it was the truth.

I lost my breath again when I saw the way he looked at me. But thankfully, I had the strength to be more angry than I was wounded by it. There was weskness in pain, and I didn't want to face that yet. No amount of touching comforted me though, because nothing could. He tried to translate to make it better by stroking my skin and touching my face, but the only that registered was shock...disbelief. It was even worse than when Alice told me...because this time, it was him.

Knowing about it before hand should have made it easier since the shock factor was eliminated. Knowing about it should have helped prepare me and given me the courage to face it now. It didn't. It made it worse. It made it real, and something I couldn't escape. How cruel was the uninverse, to give me something so enchanting...then take it away. I knew what the pain of death felt like when it took my parents from me. I knew what facing the world alone was like, with a hole the size of the galaxy bludgeoned through the center of my body. It made me feel distended and alien inside my own body.

Only then did I appreciate what he was trying to protect me from. This pain. because you can't miss what you never knew, and Edward was trying to make sure that I didn't know this. He tried to protect me from his love.

When his touching wouldn't comfort me, he did better, and worse. He kissed me. And the raging electricity that sparked when his inhuman tongue rolled against mine, stole the breath from my lungs. He pulled me flush against him, and very slowly, I felt him change. As we found a rhythm together, and the longer we moved, the warmer the kiss grew and the softer his tongue. His coldness melted, and I felt him drawing from my warmth...borrowing almost, so that I didn't shy away from his nature. As if I ever would.

Tears came between us when I felt how passionate he cared about me. And even though he still had a month to live, I missed him already. How would I ever be able to say goodbye to this?

"Isabella," he whispered against my lips when I couldn't stop crying.

I shivered slightly as a gust of wind passed and lifted my hair, and he pulled his long cloak around me tighter. I caught a glimpse of his wings when he moved, flaring out slightly from behind him. The sight made me gasp and as I arched my head to get a better look at his glistening black feathers, a smile broke out on my face. He was absolutely beautiful.

"I don't like seeing you like this," he said. "I tried to prevent it. It's one of the reasons I stayed away from you."

"You can't protect me from this Edward." I shook my head slowly, our faces still very close together. "Nothing would have prevented this hole in my heart. I would always have wondered. I would always have waited. And I can't believe that you would rob me of every minute of you, knowing that our time is limited."

He pulled back his face a bit so that he could look at me, surprised by what I said.

"You would rather go through _this_," he said, pushing his open palm against my chest, "and suffer, and risk your life, just to spend time with me?"

"I'll forgive your ignorance because you never allowed me the chance to show you just how enamoured I am by you. Yes, Edward. I would."

"Do you know what this means?"

"What?"

"It means that we can't go back."

Something sputtered inside of me when he said that, and I swallowed a reflexive lump.

"What happened tonight?" I asked him. "The last thing I remember is the Cemetery."

"You met some of the others from my Host, the Host to which I no longer belong if anything I've done tonight means anything."

"What do you mean?"

"For the past two weeks, I flew in the opposite direction from you, toward other cities and states, sometimes as far as Alaska, all in the name of putting distance between us, so that I could try to avert my focus from you. I asked Alice to look over you while as I was gone. I think you know that by now. I thought it would work."

I shook my head ignorantly, wondering why he'd ever think his absence would work.

"And every morning I returned to my post before the sun came up. It was hell, Isabella. After being so close to you for so long, separating myself from you so abruptly did things to me that I didn't expect. It got progressively more difficult and I found myself coming back to the city, lingering closer and closer every night until early this morning... when Alice told me about her encounter with you last night.

"I was going to come to you tonight, on my own, but I needed Carlisle's guidance first. So I followed him out after twilight to talk, knowing that Alice would keep watch over you until I was ready. But she's not nearly as involved with you as I am, obviously, because she was late. By the time she made it to your apartment, you were already at the Pet Cemetery. She had to trace your scent to find you there, and when she realised that the others were there too, she left to come find me...to alert me that you might be in trouble. I would never have lost track of you like that, Isabella. I hope you know that."

I nodded.

"She wouldn't have been able to take you to safety as fast as I can. She is not as fast. I am the fastest in the Host. Plus, you are not hers to protect in that way. You are mine."

The sound of it made my heart swell. If only for a fleeting second in a lifetime, I was his, and hearing it fall from his own lips meant more than I had the words to explain.

"The others would not have killed you, Isabella. But they are threatened by my attachment to you. They would taken you for observation, to decide exactly how much of a threat you might be to us. And they would have made sure that you had no power over them."

"By taking the Selenite," I said.

"Yes. Selenite blocks our gifts, and after Rosalie realized that was the reason she couldn't affect you when she wanted to, she was furious. But I couldn't let them touch you, especially knowing Rosalie's motives. She would have used your snooping around the cemetery again as motive to build a case against you. And she would have tried to figure out exactly how much it is you know about us. Without the Selenite, she would have gotten the truth from you, and then she would have brainwashed Jake and Emmett to take her side. "

"Who are Jake and Emmett?"

"The ones you met tonight in the cemetery. Jake is like my brother and Emmett is my creator. He's also Rosalie's mate, though she hardly deserves him. "

"Oh. I caught a glimpse of one, I think. He was huge and had long hair to his shoulders. That's all I saw before I dropped my torch."

"That was Jake," he said, with a small nod. "I'd be hard pressed to think him capable of hurting anyone, even under threat, but he's a sucker for a dare and easily influenced by Rose."

"So then," I said with a gulp. "You guys really are the Gargoyles from the bell tower. The ones I climbed up there to see. That's like..." I shook my head in awe. "I don't even know how to put it into words."

"The bell tower has been our perch for the past five years."

"So you knew I was up there next to you? The day I went up there?"

"Of course we knew."

"And is that why it caused such a problem?"

"It's not safe for us when humans get near to us in our stone form."

"Why not?"

He shifted his eyes away uncomfortably, as if having difficulty with the answer. So I didn't push him. There was still so much else I needed him to answer. I would come back to that eventually.

"Which one are you, Edward? When I asked you the last time you didn't answer."

"Won't you guess?" He smiled.

"I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Please be the lion. He was my favorite."

"Not that I have much control over it, but..." And he winked at me then, which made certain parts of me twitch in arousal. "I'm the lion."

The smile on my face could have split my face in two. "Thank God," I whispered. "I hated the bat."

He laughed then with a soft nod of his head, and the sound was like sweet unexpected music to my ears.

"I'm not surprised, deliciae, _Rose_ is the bat."

A flash of goosebumps railed over my skin when he said that, and I huddled against him more.

"Deliciae?" I asked.

"It means, sweetheart," he translated, with a small kiss to my forehead. Already, his affection was doing dangerous things to the beat of my heart. In all of my fantasies, not once did I anticipate his tenderness.

"So you come to life at night, then," I continued.

"Yes."

"Is there a particular time? Or…."

"Twilight," he answered. "Every evening at twilight. As soon as the sun leaves the sky."

"That's kinda perfect." I smiled up at him.

"You shouldn't have gone back there tonight, Isabella, though telling you this now makes no sense since nothing I say seems to affect you in the way it should."

"Edward, Alice told me that you're going to die and that I would never see you again. I think that was a good enough reason to break your rules. I couldn't let you get away without knowing what was going to happen."

"It was reckless. Do you know what could have happened to you tonight if I wasn't nearby, if Alice hadn't gotten to me in time? I wouldn't have been able to keep their hands off you."

He stood up then, taking my body up with him as he stood, then once I was on foot he let go of me and walked a short distance away across the rooftop. He passed his hand through his long hair in aggravation, then turned back to me to continue his chastising.

"Wait a minute," I said with a frown, as something occured to me. "It was you…."

My stare drifted into space as I remembered the dark cocoon that squeezed me to suffocation. "You were the one who brought me here. You were the one who took me and almost smothered me to death..."

He took a slow step toward me and blazed his eyes into mine in silent fervor.

"There was a reason for that."

"I'd love to hear it."

"Don't think for one second that I don't know every last detail about you, Isabella," he said in a dark, commanding tone. "I know about your claustrophobia and about your fear of the dark since your accident, and I used that to my advantage. Flying isn't as glamourous or magical as you might think. If you were coherent while moving at that speed so high up, you would have fainted anyway. I was doing you a favour."

"So you knew you were crushing me half to death them. It was on purpose."

"I wouldn't have hurt you, but it was necessary. I can out fly the rest of my Host, but it's not something you would have been able to experience without the gravest of difficulty. That kind of speed is debilitating, not to mention the cold at that altitude. You could have died, even. I had to hold you so that you were safe."

"I'm sorry," I muttered, guilty now at the way he had to defend himself. "I trust you. It's ok."

He passed his hands through my hair then, and pulled my forehead toward his lips. If he only knew what his kisses did to me, he would have stopped. It couldn't have been healthy to be falling for him at the rate I was.

"Where are we anyway?" I asked.

"That's the part I'm afraid to tell you."

"You haven't managed to scare me away yet."

I turned my face outward, wondering why the skyline looked so flat...no mountains...no trees...

"You aren't in Seattle anymore," he said.

"I gathered that much?" I turned back to him. "Where?"

"You're in Notre Dame, Isabella." He eased his hands into his pockets and took a step back, ever the personification of elegance.

I on the other hand almost gagged on my own saliva, ever the graceless human in comparison.

"_Notre_…..as in…Paris?"

"That's correct."

"What?" I spun to face the view then with my hands over my mouth. "You flew me across the Atlantic?"

He didn't answer that time, so I turned back to him with shock plastered all over my face. His cool appraisal flustered me slightly, especially the way his liquid pools of gray passed over every nook and cranny on my face. He certainly had a way about him, that ethereal something that rendered me hapless and shamelessly agreeable.

"As far away as possible was the idea," he said. "The Host would not have followed us across here because it is too far away from our current perch. The further away we are, the more likely it is to get caught by dawn on the way back home, and sleeping out is not a popular pastime for Gargoyles. Like I said they aren't as fast as me. The sun would have caught them mid way if they tried following our trail."

A million things started running through my mind then.

"Well _fuck me_," I gasped unthinkingly, turning back toward the view with a dropped jaw. I walked to the edge of the rooftop and gaped down at the lights below. I held on to the low, iron railing and bent over, trying to gauge exactly how high up we were.

"Please don't do that," he called. "Please...get away from the edge."

"I've never been to France before," I gasped, as my eyes scanned the massive view that unfolded everywhere, a thousand times more incredible since finding out where I was. "I've never been anywhere else but Forks and Seattle. I can't believe this. I don't even have my passport!"

"Will you get away from there, please," he grunted from behind. "You're making me nervous."

I turned around to face him but didn't move from the edge. Instead I leaned against the low railing and observed him curiously with an arched eyebrow and folded arms.

"Why on earth would you be nervous? It's not like you couldn't swoop down and catch me if I fell over."

He held a hand out to me then and called me to him with his curling fingers.

"Come."

I swore my body was wired to his somehow, because without even intending to, my feet started moving toward him of their own volition.

"Knowing how to fly doesn't mean I like doing it," he said, as I put my hand in his. "And I don't need another reason to save you tonight."

"What's going to happen now, Edward?"

"You said you wanted to run with me, right? Well, _Voila_."

I wrapped my free arm around myself and cringed as another gust of wind laced itself through my hair. It _was_ what I wanted, because I thought that it was the only way I could be with him, but in a perfect world we wouldn't have to run. It was wrong on so many levels, unfair to say the least, that we should have to hide.

"What about Blade?" I asked, closing my eyes regretfully.

He rubbed his thumb against the back of my hand, then raised it to his lips.

"He's lucky to have Angela."

That didn't make me feel better. I didn't want Blade to think that I had abandoned him, but I relaxed minimally, knowing that Angela would take care of him. I didn't know how long I'd be, or what would happen in a month when Edward would be gone, but I knew that at some point I would have to face the Legion. Anything was possible at that point.

I hugged Edward then and pressed my ear to his chest where I could hear a heart beat on the inside. I didn't expect to hear one, not knowing whether or not Gargoyle's had hearts that beat, or if they were considered 'alive'. But when I found the sound, mine lurched in response.

"So we're running," I said, with my ear against his chest.

"We're running, Isabella," he said, and his voice sounded labored and pinned under the weight of something big.

Guilt washed over me. I knew it my fault. I had pushed him to this point. Had I taken no for an answer and behaved, he wouldn't have had a reason to kidnap me. And now as I stood against him and looked at the tormet in his eyes, it hurt.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry to cause you all this trouble. I know it's too late now, but..."

"Hush," he said quickly, pressing his finger to my lips. "It's my fault, not yours. I had a right to stay away from you. I knew that getting too close would be dangerous, and I knew what it meant, and I still let it happen. But I couldn't resist. You have given meaing to my life that I had no right to expect...and now, I have to protect you, even though I can't."

"Can't..."

"There is no question about it, Isabella," he said. "They _will_ find us and when they do there will be nothing I can do to save you. Selenite will only protect you to an extent. They know you have it and they will take it from you. You won't be able to stop them."

"Can we not think about that right this minute?" I pleaded. "I'm here with you now. And there's so much I want to know. You don't know what you mean to me, Edward. You're the one who saved my life. Just standing here with you at all is a miracle. I will never regret this."

I'd have thought it was impossible, but my heart near stopped when I saw something glisten in his eye. What looked like a tear didn't build up or escape his lids, but it was there. Seeing vulnerability in something so powerful was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Yet even in the wake of his visible suffering he had that invincible, commandeering presence about him... a silent strength that was neither boastful nor ostentatious. He was simply magical.

Next to him I felt like a scared lamb in the arms of a lion, and despite our glaring differences we still, somehow...fit.

"Why are you going to die?" I asked suddenly.

He dropped his arms from around me and sighed with his face up to the sky.

"You're supposed to be immortal. What's wrong with you?"

"We have a lot to talk about," he replied. "I promise I will answer your questions, but we can't do it here."

I looked around us again and when he saw my oblivious reaction, he pointed to the sky.

"The sun will come up soon. We are nine hours ahead of Seattle right now and it took me an hour to get us here. I need to get you to a warm place where you'll be safe, and where we'll be undisturbed for a while."

"Whoa...you really are fast."

"When I have to be, yes. I don't take that kind of speed often but it's why the others couldn't follow. It would take them a lot longer to get here and back. It's also why I had to wrap you so securely against me."

Even though I knew this was all happening, every now and again I had to shake my head and smile. It felt like I had been sucked into a movie; a runaway with a Gargoyle, one who was about to turn to stone at the first crack of sunlight. Amidst the sadness and anxiety, the thrill of adventure was also very real. And I found myself varying between excitement and fear.

"Where are we standing?" I asked, looking down at my feet.

"The Notre Dame Cathedral," he answered.

"No shit," I gasped.

He smiled at my uncultured reaction and touched my cheek. "There are Gargoyles that perch on this rooftop, friends of mine actually. Right now they are out on duty, and I would rather leave before they return."

"Where are we going?" I asked with an incredulous smile on my face.

"I think you'd appreciate it better if you saw for yourself," he answered, opening his wings slowly behind him.

For a few seconds I blanched as the sight unfolded behind him. For the first time I_ really_ saw them.

"Edward…." I gasped, pressing my open palms to my stomach. "They're just...incredible. They're beautiful."

His feathers were as black as the night, and when I moved forward to touch, he didn't flinch or push me away. He let me pass my fingers over the dark sheen and watched quietly as I shuddered in delight.

As hard and unyielding as the rest of him was, this part of him was soft. And by the size of his wing span I guessed that he had a least a thousand feathers behind him.

"My wings were what wrapped you up so tightly back in the cemetery," he acknowledged in a soft voice. "And you're going to have to let me do it again."

I blinked out of my trance and looked up at him. "Again?"

He answered by bringing them around my shoulders slowly, encasing me in a gradual darkness that made me hold my breath and bite my tongue.

"Relax," he whispered. "I won't hurt you."

But I resisted, pushing my hands against his chest and shaking my head. "Edward...no."

"Ssshhh."

"I don't like it. I won't be able to breathe…..I can't…please."

My eyes filled up with water again and I was shaking my head desperately, gasping in short breaths and trying my hardest to control the oncoming panic attack. He stopped when he saw my difficulty and opened his wings at my sides. It was hard to believe that a thing so soft could crush me like that, but they had and I never wanted to experience that again.

"We have to fly now, Isabella. You won't like it."

"I might," I swallowed, putting my hands against his wings at my sides, trying to hold them off...as if I could. "Let me try."

"I am too fast," he said with a deep frown. "I remember my own first experience as a human and it was terrible. And Emmett wasn't half as fast as I am."

"Human?"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow. Right now, we have to leave."

"Ok, but...you have to let me try," I begged. "I can't bear the suffocation."

He frowned on me with a searching stare, then dropped his head slightly.

"Be gentle," I said in a breathy whisper. "And I will like it."

"But, I don't know how," he pleaded, unsure of his own strength. "I'm too fast."

"You know how," I coaxed, touching his face.

With a heavy sigh, he turned his face into my palm and closed his eyes. And after a few seconds of hesitation like that, he held my shoulders, turned me around and pulled my back against him. With one arm firmly secured around my waist and the other across my chest, he lowered his lips to my ear and kissed the spot behind it gently.

"Promise that you'll tell me if it gets overwhelming," he said.

"I promise," I answered, my heart sputtering in a blend of fear, excitement and butterflies.

I held my breath and closed my eyes when I felt my feet leave the floor, and another smile broke out on my face when I realised we were going up. He moved vertically, at a slow pace, holding me so tightly even that was sightly uncomfortable. It was hard to relax, and with my heart jumping into my throat I knew there'd be no easy way to experience this.

"You're shaking," he said.

"I'm fine."

I opened my eyes then and looked down with a dropped jaw. The roof of the cathedral was so far down below it looked miniature and the lights that rolled out from beneath were like tiny dots of color, dancing like stars in an inverted sky.

"My God," I gasped. I'd hardly even felt the upward movement. "This is incredible."

"Wrap your legs around me," he said into my ear.

"Huh?"

"You have to wrap your legs around mine, behind you."

I did as he asked and hooked my feet around his calves.

"Close your eyes if you have to," he said next, "...and remember to breathe."

Before I could even respond I heard the strapping flap of his wings, a hollow gust of wind, then just like that...we were off.

I would have screamed had I been able to find my voice. My entire body seized. My legs were locked behind his, my fingers were biting into his forearm and every other muscle in my body was twisted in knots. We were moving horizontally and whereas I could have seen the lights below before, it was now virtually impossible. Everything flashed and whirred underneath by at a terrifuing speed, tearing by so fast it all blended together like a line of fire. My eyes were drying out against the wind and my hair slapped and stung my face in a million little places.

It was also cold...frigid to the point that I had to turn my face away from it. When I did, I found his face and he dropped a light kiss to the tip of my nose.

"If the wind hurts, keep your face turned in," he said, and even going at that pace, his voice was settled and nothing above normal pitch. The comfort I found in that was immeasureable, and I felt my body unwind a little.

I'd never felt so light before, as if the wind itself could carry me and would keep me afloat if he let me go. I looked outward again, insistent on being brave by opening myself to the full experience, and at my side I saw the length of his left wing. It didn't flap like I thought it would, or move with any obvious flair. His wings were strong and serene, gliding almost as they took us cutting through the wind.

Like an alien inside of my own skin I tried to believe this, tried to understand the screaming of my heart and the exhileration that was coursing though me. Just a few hours ago I was in Seattle, giving Blade a walk through the city. Now I was flying with a Gargoyle through Notre Dame, France, and loving every painstaking second of it.

My body was going rapidly numb. I couldn't feel my face of my legs anymore and I tried with every measure of focus to ignore the feeling like I was slipping.

"We're almost there," he said.

"WHERE!" I shrieked against the loud wind.

He turned his face in toward me and when I looked in at him he had the most adorably amused expression on his face. His eyes actually danced.

"You _do _realize my hearing abilities are substantially above normal, right?" He smiled, and I noticed the way his hair whisked around his face.

"RIGHT!" I shrieked in answer, way past giddy.

"But if screaming at me helps.…" and he kissed my nose again. "By all means, deliciae."

"THIS IS AMAZING!" I screamed into his face. I just knew my eyes were as wide as two saucers. He grinned and turned his face forward again, holding his chin up, and for a second, I noticed the way he kept his eyes ahead off the ground below. "HAVE YOU EVER DONE THIS BEFORE?"

"I fly every night, Isabella."

"NO, I MEAN—WITH A HUUUMAN!"

"No actually, I haven't."

"MY GOD! IT'S EXHILERATING! I'M SO SCARED I COULD JUST PEE MYSELF RIGHT NOW!"

He turned into me with an arched brow and I almost swallowed my tongue.

"SORRY! NOT LADY LIKE AT ALL- I KNOW! BUT I CAN'T HELP IT!"

He tightened his arms around me and I felt his hardness weld itself to the back of my body. Despite the apparent harshness in his clutch, I knew that tightening his arms around me like that was a loving gesture, like he was hugging as we flew.

"You might want to close your eyes and turn your face in," he suggested.

"WHAT! WHY?"

"Because going down isn't nearly as fun as going up."

"OH! RIGHT! OK!" I turned in toward him and pressed my face to the side of his, revelling in the feel of skin against my nose.

"I'm going to move you now," he said, giving me a heads up.

"WHAAA..."

And in a split second, he flipped me over to face him, pinning my chest to his with his arms wrapped around my back and hips. I wrapped my legs around his waist instinctively and watched as he nodded.

"Good girl."

Then a mass of tickling butterflies erupted in my stomach. Going down was certainly a lot less gentle than going up if my stomach had anything to say about it. I hugged him tightly and held my breath until I felt my face swelling. But then the wind stilled, and the howling fading, and it took me a few disoriented moments to realise we had touched down because it was so gentle.

I felt when his wings came in around me, but this time it was by no means threatening. They was cradling. Like a web of comfort, they sheilded me from the cold and from any other element that might try to hurt me. Then suddenly his lips were on mine, matching the chill of the cold wind we had just blasted through. I shuddered against him and tightened my thighs on his waist. His hands found my hair and from the back of my head he held my face possessively to his. I gasped and I buckled, trying to catch a breath around his demanding tongue.

The more I held to him and the deeper I pushed our kiss, the more he changed. Just like the first time we kissed, his lips warmed as my temperature transferred to him. The change in him made me groan and I grabbed his hair in two fistfuls, egging him on in a way he wouldn't be able to partake of if the sun was about to take him.

I whimpered like a crooning cat when I felt myself go moist between my legs, and as if he sensed it, he grabbed my hips and locked me to him, shocking me as to how hard he_ really _was.

I didn't care where we were or who was there. All I wanted was him; on a rooftop, on a bed, in an alley, in the sky, on the floor, in a ditch….wherever. I wanted to be his.

He took me with him, kissing me like it was the last thing he would ever devour on the green earth. I had no telling of how fast we moved or to where, but suddenly I fell back against some soft and when I opened my eyes I realised we were indoors.

Before I could make sense of my surrondings, he was over me, and even with all his clothes on, he was the sexiest man I'd ever had between my thighs. He came down on me but held his weight off my propping himself on his elbows.

He whispered something to me in Latin, and damn if that didn't have the power to make me orgasm right then and there.

"You're safe now," he whispered.

"You're warm," was my reply.

He hummed against me and snakes his tongue into my mouth. Crooning like a sexual cat, I arched into him and smiled into his kiss.

"You get warm whenever we kiss," I said against his lips.

"If you hold a stone to the fire it would get hot, wouldn't it?"

"I guess so. So your body temperature adapts?"

"When it's cold I'm cold, and when it's warm, so am I."

In contentment, I giggled and started undoing the buttons of his shirt, wantng to know just how far warmth could reach him. But he chuckled and rubbed his nose against mine, and made me feel like a naughty kitten in a bundle of yarn.

"It's almost dawn," he whispered, dropping light kisses all over my face. "I have to go."

"Nooooooo," I groaned lazily burying my face in his neck. "Please, nooooo…"

"We have tomorrow night," he said, raising his body a little higher. "And I promise that I'll make it worth the wait."

I pushed myself up on my elbows so that we were nose to nose again.

"What am I supposed to do all day without you? Where are we anyway?"

That was the first time I looked at something other than his face. The room was nothing short of regal. It was spectacular and spacious, like something out of a castle in a fairytale. My entire apartment could have fit inside of it. The ceiling was high and there were gold, intricate borders and trimmings that lined the perimeter. The floor was covered in rich, dark wood and the gloss that the furniture was covered in plush violet. The elaborate curtains stretched from ceiling to floor and a massive golden chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling. There could have been as many as a hundred little amber lights adorned in it. The bed was a four post King Sized dream with a canopy overhead, sheathed with thick blankets and plush cushions.

"Whoa," I uttered, taking it all in with wide eyed stupor.

"Would you believe me if I told you?" He asked with a smirk. I glanced at him fleetingly and jumped off the side of the high bed.

"Try me," I answered. "Are we still in Paris?"

"No, but you are still in France."

"Where is this place?"

"You're at the Chambord Castle, in Loire Valley."

"A ca...a castle?" I turned back to him, getting serious now.

"It belongs to the French government now, like a museum for tours and such. But in the sixteenth century it belonged to King Francois."

"No kidding," I whispered, trying to dust the goosebumps away from my arms. "My goodness, Edward."

"The castle has more than 400 rooms but this wing is closed off, so there are no tours up here. The maids come in and check on things once a week, just to clean and ensure that everything is in place. Besides that, it's abandoned. The main rooms used for the tours are on the western side, furthest from here on the two first floors. The tours are from 9am to 5:15pm, and the castle is locked up after that, leaving it free for exploration at night. Before Seattle, we stayed in France for a few years and I used to come here a lot. It's warm indoors, so you will be comfortable and the kitchens are always stocked with food. Here you will be safe, out of sight, and comfortable."

It was a lot to digest and I ended up just staring at him blankly.

"So we're going to stay here?" I eventually asked, letting my eyes to run over the room again.

"Only if you are comfortable," he said with a small nod. "If not, there are many other castles we can…."

"Edward! I don't need you to put me in a castle!"

"I know, deliciae." He smiled and dropped his head in amusement. "I was teasing."

"Oh," I said.

"I chose this place because it is safe and easy to lose yourself in. You will hardly be discovered here and it leaves you with lots to explore during the day. There is a library just down the hall and the fields are incredible, although Isabella…" he said in a low tone, dropping his eyes to my lips again. "You will find that your days are mostly filled with sleep since your nights will be filled with me."

I blushed intensely when he said that and sucked my bottom lip between my teeth.

The more I listened, the more I warmed up to the idea. All I really needed was to be with him and being undiscovered was a definite plus factor, since I _was_ a refugee in a foreign country and all. I didn't know what Edward's and my immediate future held, but I knew that I wanted every possible waking moment to be spent with him. And if he thought that was easiest in this place, I had no argument.

"Ok." I turned to him with a smile and a shrug. "This whole night has been so surreal anyway. I shouldn't be shocked. It kind of fits this crazy adventure."

"Make yourself comfortable, and please promise to stay out of trouble during the day," he warned. "You know my predicament during the light hours. I won't be able to come to you until the sun sets. I will come to you every evening at twilight."

I shot him a half grin. "So what now?"

"Now I must leave you," he said, stepping over to me. "And you must sleep. Close the window after I go out, and lock yourself in."

"How much more time do you have?"

"A few minutes," he said in a soft voice, touching my hair tenderly. I was saddened by the thought of being separated from him for the next twelve hours or so, and being in that strange place was disconcerting.

"I hate that you have to leave," I said, wrapping my arms around myself. "Will you be safe?"

"When I am stone, so is every other Gargoyle on this side of the world. And the ones on the other side can't fly into the sunlight. They will stay where they are, so it works out either way...for now."

I relaxed a little and nodded.

"Sleep well," he said, and turned to leave.

"Wait," I said, but he didn't stop.

"It's time Isabella," he said anxiously, going to the window. "I must go."

"But I want to see."

He froze on the spot when I said that and for a few long seconds he just stood there, unmoving, with his rigid back to me.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said quietly.

"Why not? I'm dying to see what it's like when you change."

"It's not pretty, Isabella."

"I told you already, you can't scare me away."

He turned partially to me and bit down hard on his jaw, then without another word he jumped gracefully out the window. I ran out behind him and climbed through with a lot more difficulty, seeing that the sky was lightening already. I stepped out on to the terrace and looked around blindly for a while, trying to locate him. Then I looked up at the roof, knowing that's where he disappeared to, but the complicated design was treacherous to climb. The many small and clustered windows made it easy enough to try though, and without a second thought I found myself scaling the castle wall. It didn't help that the roof was a combination of deadly slopes with random pieces fitted together. There was no flat area to stand firmly on, but I managed to pull myself up alongside one of the rafters, pushing up on my stomach. And when I got to the top, I stood at the foot of a small tower. That's when I saw him, standing on the edge of the tower with his black cloak blowing out behind him.

He looked down at me and fisted his palms.

"I'd rather you didn't," he said sullenly.

"I want to," was my answer.

He shook his head and shugged out of his cloak, dropping it inside of the tower space where I couldn't see.

"Is it personal?" I asked.

"It's monstrous," he growled, making me flinch at the inflection in his voice.

"You are beautiful, Edward. Let me see you."

He took the rest of his clothes off and my eyes clung to him like greedy parasites. Perfect, he was, by no exaggeration. He was beautifully sculpted, his muscles bunching and rippling with his movements. His wings spanned out at his sides, forming a gorgeous dark backdrop around him.

My cheeks pooled with blood when at last he stood above me, naked, and from where I stood I couldn't find a single flaw on him. Carved like a Greek God, I passed my eyes over him, letting out a ragged breath when I realised there wasn't a single hair I could find on his body. He stood there staring at me with quiet refutation in his eyes, embarrassed almost by what I was about to see - his transformation, but nothing short of my sudden death would have kept me away.

"I love you." He mouthed the words to me as a shadow fell over his eyes. And my heart swelled just as the first break of light burst through the clouds.

* * *

**A/N: I've been told that Edward had been knighted "Stoneward". So have fun with your stoneward ladies ;)**


	10. Chapter 9 The Bucket List

**A/N: *hands out cigarettes to all readers* Giggles and runs away...I hope you guys are ready for the strangeness of this.**

**Dragonflyidt - the Bella POV is for you.**

**Thanks for reading everyone!**

**Happy reading :)**

* * *

**Chapter 9 **

** The bucket list**

**Edward**

The most frustrating thing in all my existence had always been the comatose feeling of being trapped in stone. That day topped my worst list. Transforming with Isabella just a few feet away actually caused me to shudder, especially given her instinctual reaction. She cringed. She cringed so badly that she let go of the latticework behind her to stifle her gasp, and nearly skid off the fucking roof.

I wanted to scream. Taking to stone was supposed to be restful, the hours when we relaxed and synchronized ourselves with nature. In that form we created an natural shield of protection around our perch with our ghastly images, warding off any unwanted presence; human or spirit, with just the look of us. But I couldn't relax or concentrate on anything but her. She stood there gawking at me in alarm, shocked by what she feasted her eyes on...the transformation of a monster.

I could see she was cold and tired. She'd been through an ordeal over the past few hours and jet lag should have set in by then. I knew however, that I didn't want her hanging onto the side of a precariously designed, three hundred year old roof when her exhaustion finally caught up with her.

Only five minutes into the morning, and already I was itching to burst free of my shell of rock, wanting to take her inside and lock her inside where she was safe. It got worse when I realized she was trying to get closer to me too, inching her way further and further up the slope toward the rim of the tower. She'd been near to me in stone before and I hadn't been alarmed by her closeness, but that day was different. That day she knew what and who I was, and in my stone shell of vulnerability, I felt exposed. She had just witnessed my ghastly transformation and a part of me worried that she was disgusted by it. Isabella however, showed no signs of backing off. The scraping of her little feet against the shingles crawled my frozen blood and had I been able to scream at her, I would have. If she fell from up there, there'd be nothing I could do to help her and there was no one else around.

I growled internally to her careless insistence on getting close to me, wishing she could hear my warning. She didn't, of course. Her little hands curled over the rim of the tower and grabbed on, just two inches shy of where my hind feet merged with the beam. Then she pulled herself up with much difficulty, cursing herself all the while through clenched teeth for her ridiculousness.

If I could have rolled my eyes, I would have.

Clumsily, she raised one leg over the beam and swung it over the edge, and her foot connected with one of mine.

"Fuck! Sorry!" She yelped and grabbed her mouth, which in turn made her slip. "_AH!_"

My insides were rumbling like the depths of an angry earthquake. I just knew that I'd be in the worst fucking mood when I got out, something I'd make her pay for dearly.

When she caught herself, she held onto the beam with her two hands with her legs dangling below.

"Oh shit, I kicked you," she gasped while hanging from the beam. "And I'm a lot heavier than I thought I was."

_Just get up here already!_ I screamed on the inside.

Finally, she hauled herself up and ended with her upper body hanging over into the tower with her legs still dangling on the outside.

"This is much harder than it looked..." she groaned, dropping her arms on the inside where she opted to hang for a while.

_I'll be the first Gargoyle to die from a human condition, I just know it_, I grumbled to myself.

She pushed herself up then, pulled her legs over and jumped down inside of the tower.

"Ha!" She rejoiced with a sound clap.

The tower was shallow and narrow, more decorative than functional, so it was easy for her to stand on the inside and still be close to me. I couldn't see her however, not with my face turned outward. But I could hear everything in and around her, down to the quickened rate of her excited pulse.

She touched me then, ran her warm hand down one of my legs. And whereas that touch would have driven another Gargoyle half mad...I found myself inclining toward it.

"I know you can hear me," she said softly. "And I know you're probably upset because I didn't listen to you again, but as beautiful as it is inside of that room, I'd much rather be out here with you."

_It's cold out here. Please go inside._

"I saw when you said you loved me."

And slowly, my agitation started melting away.

"I love you too."

_Fine. You win. Stay._

"What I just saw was singlehandedly the most terrifying and amazing thing I've ever seen. You say it's not pretty...but Edward, it's incredible. Scary yes, but at the same time...I don't even have the right words for it. I'm speechless. Even though I'm talking...I get that, but I think you know what I mean? I'm in this bubble of ridiculous right now, and I don't have the words or appropriate reactions for anything.

"I was still coming to terms with the fact that I actually flew with you. _Flew_, through the fucking sky! You put me on the top of the Notre Dame freaking Cathedral and then you bring me to the most fantastic castle I could imagine. And now this...seeing you transform right here in front of me, from flesh to stone, is more than I ever expected when I first met you."

She kept touching me, running her hands up and down the back of my legs, assuaging my already pert and inappropriate appetite for her.

"You're bigger than I remembered too," she said, moving around to the side and making a warming path with her fingertips as she moved. Her touch wasn't sexual. It was reverent, adoring almost, and eager as they tried to claim every spot on me in curiosity.

"I'll admit to almost peeing myself again when I saw it, but now that I'm this close, there's absolutely nothing scary about you," she said.

My front legs were raised in the air, mid jump. So she ducked underneath and tip toed to stretch, but that part of me was out of reach. Not that that stopped her.

I nearly crumbled to ash when she climbed up with the help of a beam and stood right next to me.

_For the love of God..._

"Why are you hiding your face like that with your wing?" She asked, and from the side I saw her leaning forward to get a better look.

_Because I'm afraid of heights_, I answered her question inwardly. _I'd have turned inward if you weren't down there looking up at me. Though now I'm more afraid of you falling to your death from up here. _

Growling didn't help. She'd never hear it. She took hold of my right wing next and somehow, managed to impress calm on me again with her delightful touch.

"Your wings are possibly my favorite part of you, when you're like this of course. When you're awake, it's your eyes that hypnotize me, and your lips...well, they're unlike any I've ever kissed before. I just wanted you to know how relieved I am that you're able to change in temperature when you're close to me. Does the_ rest_ of you work the same way? You know...the_ rest_?"

_Sweet heaven above...She's killing me._

"Gah. I'm asking all these questions knowing you can't answer me. That must be really frustrating for you by the way, but I find it much easier to talk to you like this when you can't tell me 'no', or 'not now' or 'go inside, Isabella.'"

_Is she mocking me?_

"You're probably accustomed to it by now anyway. Being trapped like this. That of course brings me to my next question. How old are you anyway? And how were you….born? Sculpted? You said something about human before. I feel like I've known you forever, yet still, I hardly know anything about you. I hope you know you're not getting away from telling me everything."

Her voice trailed off then and she sighed so heavily it sounded like her lungs collapsed. Her hand fell away and she lowered her body on the edge where she sat with her legs dangling over the side.

I heard the change in her heartbeat and the way her breath caught in her chest. The sound of it made me cave because I knew she was hurting already, something my greediness caused, something I could have done better at protecting her from.

"How could something so wonderful be so excruciating at the same time?" She asked.. "I want to be able to enjoy this. I'm here with you in this fantasy world, but I still can't be completely happy. I don't know how to experience this properly with this pain building inside of me like this. I know I'm going to fall hard for you, I already have. And that'd how I know I won't be good at losing you."

She sighed, then continued.

"How am I supposed to go back to regular life after you, after _this_? That's going to be impossible."

By this point, I was trembling through the depths of my core, wanting to both comfort and send her away. I loved this girl; more than I should have, and that love took us to that point where we were side by side in the tower of a castle in Loire Valley...hiding from the Legion and the world. It was wrong in so many ways, despite how good it felt.

I had never been good with lines or boundaries. Even when I complied, I suffered. So it was fitting that I'd wait until the last minute of my existence, until I was already halfway out the door to fuck things up like I did. And as selfish as it was, I knew that the very best part of me would die in happiness. Because I got the chance to feel her.

It would be excruciated however, just like she said. The pain of falling only to be parted, especially knowing that I'd have to leave her behind to suffer, left a poisonous taint on our union. She sat next to me that day and cried.

She cried because she didn't know what to expect or how to feel. She cried because she anticipated the pain of losing me. And she cried because she was scared. She should have been crying for her own life, for fear of the punishment she would have to face because of my mistakes. There was no telling what the Legion would do to make the wrongs right again, but something was imminent. I felt it coming closer to us even as I stood there in stone. But I would fight it. I didn't deserve their pardon, but I still hoped they would give it.

It was impossible to concentrate on any of that though with her sitting there next to me; making such an adorable spectacle of herself. She got more and more red faced with every hour. Her wet eyelashes were heavy under the weight of both tears and exhaustion. She needed to sleep.

_Isabella..._

She looked up at me as if she heard me, then scooted over closer, leaning against one of my legs for support. I tried not to panic. She didn't understand how dangerous it was for me to be exposed to her in that form. A hard enough jolt could get me undone from a perch like that and I'd have fallen below and died from the crumbling impact with the ground. She wouldn't have been able to stop it.

"I have an idea," she said, with a sniffle. "I want you to do something for me. Now, don't bark at my idea before you've had time to think about it. Just hear me out."

"I want to write a list of things to do with each other before you die," she said in a brave voice. "Like a bucket list. Have you seen that movie? Do you even look at movies? Anyway, I promise not to make the list overbearing, but there are things that I want to do with you, or else, not only will I always wonder, but I'll always miss that I didn't get the chance.

"Just off the top of my head I know sex is definitely number one. We don't have to go in any particular order, I'll probably just be filling it all in as it comes to me, but regardless, sex is number one, two, three, four….and all the way to number twenty. Once we agree to that, the next big thing I want to ask is that you write for me.

"Get a journal and write to me, Edward. I'll never be able to drain that incredible mind of yours, of all your experiences and the things you've seen. I don't know how old you are but common sense tells me you're pretty fucking….sorry…pretty ancient. So I figure you'd have a lot to tell and that before now you hadn't the opportunity to share any of it.

"And if you write it, I'll always have it. It'd be like a gift, something to remember you by. I promise to keep it safe. I'll lock it up and no one will ever find it. Maye you could even write it in a way that makes it sound like a story. Cause who would believe it anyway, right? And I've seen how fast you are so I'm thinking that you won't break a sweat writing this if your wrist is anywhere near as fast as the rest of you. Oh yes, and I also want to go out with you...in public."

_What?_

"I know you're probably screaming your head off at me right now, because…I know, I know, you're not allowed to mingle, right. But you weren't supposed to run away with me either…..soooo…..yeah? We won't have to get too close to anyone else, or even talk much. But I hate that we have to hide from the world like this."

_Isabella…._

"One night is all I ask. One night. Take me to dinner or something where we can sit or take a walk, and just pretend to be like a normal couple. Oh my goodness, are we even a couple? What are we? Edward...I can't sleep with you if I'm not your girlfriend. Just saying."

_Sweet Jesus…._

"We can always sort out the details when you wake up. Next," she went on, and by this point, the list was making me cringe.

It started off great, but the longer it got and the more she talked, the more impatient I got and the harder it was to stay still.

"I want pictures. I want one of you when you're awake, and one with you like this. Then I want ones with us together.."

_This is not happening._

"Don't tell me it's impossible. Just like the journal, I'll keep all photos locked away and no one will ever know where the key is. I will need these things after you're gone…something to comfort me, or make it worse perhaps, I don't know. But I'll regret not having tangible memories of you.

"I also want to sleep with you…like, next to you. Just sleep. And I want to do something fun with you outdoors. There's a huge fucking field out there….sorry…did it again with F bomb." She stopped and sighed. "Look, I know we only have the nights but at some point, we should probably have a something like a picnic out there on the fields….even though you don't eat. I guess you can watch me eat. But mostly it'll just be spending time with each other and talking a lot.

"I'd also like to fly with you again, when we're not running from something that is. Just a relaxing ride. Make it dreamy!"

She was upsetting herself more than anything else because every point on that list lead to an inevitable end. She was trying to make up for lost time, but no matter what we did, our time was lost and cramming huge amounts of things into the little we had didn't particularly appeal to me. All I wanted was to be close to her. But if these were the things she wanted, as much as I was able, I would give it.

Halfway through the day she started running out of steam and the one sided conversation took a turn for the worse.

"I have to pee so badly," she grumbled, looking down at the sloping planes of the roof dismally. I just knew she wouldn't be able to face climbing down again.

Half an hour later, it was: "Maybe I should have brought a blanket up here with me. It's colder than I expected."

Not long after: "God, I'm hungry and I hate roofs that aren't flat. What the hell was I thinking?"

There were also the increasingly less graceful yawns that kept erupting from her throat. By the early afternoon she started nodding off on herself while still sitting on the ledge. The words to express my fraught restlessness in those moments didn't exist. I couldn't fathom the thought process behind her decision to stay where she was, given the state she was in.

I don't know _how _she didn't hear the ranting screams that bellowed inside of me, because I certainly heard and felt every octave of it. I went berserk in panic. I thought I'd have had to flee her side the moment I broke out of my stone….if she survived the day that was, just so that I could go somewhere and calm the fuck down before facing her again.

Then she lifted her head and blinked as if something had just occurred to her.

"Definitely, tomorrow I'm packing snacks from the kitchen and coming up here with a blanket. And you will you bring my stuff up here for me tomorrow. Better yet, you can bring me up too so that I don't have to climb."

_I am most certainly NOT bringing you or your things up here so that you can drive me crazy for another entire day, Isabella Swan._

My inward prayers were finally answered when she climbed inside of the tower. I heard her movements behind me as well as she kept announcing she did out loud. She wrapped herself inside of my cloak on the floor, made a pillow with the rest of my clothes and before long, she was snoring.

**Bella**

I finally understood the meaning of 'OMFG'. I stood there, barely, holding on to the smallest of levers behind me, feeling my feet on the verge of murdering me, when the sun came out from behind the French clouds and cast its first rays on a waiting Edward.

It was the first time he tried saying 'I love you', but before I could even rejoice in that, I was blind sided by what unfolded before my eyes.

The first change happened in his eyes. His mesmerizing grays went completely white washed as if a veil of pallid stone was poured into and filled up his sockets. It was like staring into a statue's eyes; no irises, no cornea, no anything but a solid, opaque surface of stone. And then he blinked and I almost slipped. I tightened my grip on the piece of roof behind me, my fingers burning from the pressure of trying not to fall. My heart even stopped beating as I stood there, staring, frozen, unmoving.

I heard it before I saw it, the sound of crackling. It sounded like a large tree was breaking in the center and about to timber over. His skin started breaking open in lines like an earthquake would do to the earth. He seemed to be looking at me still, but I couldn't tell, not with his eyes like that. The open craters in his body reached everywhere, until he was covered in cracks; his face, his neck, his arms, his chest, torso, hips and his legs. There wasn't a single part of him that didn't break.

The next few seconds, though flitting, slowed down infinitesimally. He seemed to be growing from within the deep cracks in his skin, like something on the inside was pushing its way out. His back arched and his head fell back, and with a gargantuan toss of his head the lion's head burst free with a snarling roar.

I almost fell off the roof then.

I grabbed on to my mouth, smothering a squeal of terror as I watched him turn from man to beast. Grabbing for my mouth however, was a mistake because I slid a few feet down on the shingles. Thankfully I was able to grab on in time and lodge myself in place again to witness the rest.

Just like his head, and with teeth as large and as white as the most fearsome lion, the rest of his body tore out from inside his naked skin. His torso and limbs writhed and popped, and the deep roar coming from his throat as it happened raised every hair on my frozen body. It was both incredible and terrifying, and didn't seem to belong to any realm of reality. It was simply majestic.

With one last lurch, his body reeled and twitched as if he was in pain, then his wings burst out from his back with a loud, sickening crack. They weren't like they were during the night; no longer feathered in soft, glistening black. They were hard stone and white washed, and in one swift motion the left one swooped to the front and covered his face.

Then just like that everything stopped.

The grumble faded and his body stiffened with one last crackle. He was now a statue, a lion, a Gargoyle. I stared at him for the longest while in awe, incapable of movement, incapable of speech. And the sudden silence made me shiver, eerie in presence and more frigid than the cold air.

"Edward?" I asked in a pip squeak voice, suddenly needing reassurance that it _was _actually him up there.

Without so much as an ounce of grace, I dragged my body up to the foot of the small tower where he stood perched, and forced my way in. He wanted me to stay inside, I knew. Why else would he put me there and tell me all that he had planned for me in that castle? But I wouldn't have been able to sleep in a strange place, let alone a strange, large, lonely place. I could scarcely believe what I had just seen. A few weeks ago I'd never even seen an actual Gargoyle with my own eyes before. Then all of a sudden I was falling in love one, flying across the world with him, running from the prongs of danger and looking at him turn from man to stone.

The excitement was too much to contain. If I didn't know it was Edward, I would have run in fright and tried to hide from the enormous creature. But knowing it was him helped on some level, and even though it frightened me, I was still astounded by the magic of it and the way it made my spirit leap.

I recognized his lion form immediately, and that was the first thing that reconciled my mind with my heart. He was the same lion I had seen that day at the bell tower. And even though the shape, position and dimensions of his body gave him a threatening disposition, knowing it was him made it easy to forget my reservations. After all, I was the one who insisted on seeing, so the least I could have done was suck it up and force myself to get over it quickly.

The moment I was next to him again, I was back to normal. He had a mystical aura that won me over completely and touching the marble like surface of his body was indescribable. It was oddly similar to the way he felt when in human form, only smoother and harder.

I stayed with him that day and tried to force myself to stay alert. I thought that talking endlessly would keep me awake and distract me from the nagging scratching behind my eyelids. But I was no match for his surreal quintessence and by early afternoon, or so I guessed, I was fading right as I sat there on the edge next to him.

Thoughts of Blade crossed my mind just before falling asleep on the floor wrapped in his cloak, but thankfully I was able to sleep fast through the guilt of leaving him behind.

**Edward**

She awoke again before I did, determined little thing, and I knew why she couldn't sleep. For one, it was too cold. Even as she wrapped herself tightly in my cloak I could hear her teeth chattering. I also figured she was too restless and that her mind was too riled with disturbing imagery to fully relax. Two hours after she closed her eyes I heard the difference in her breathing and knew that she coming around again.

I praised myself for my choice in location however, because the winter was ruthless enough to allow only a few hours of daylight. By early evening the sky had started getting dark and twilight was just around the corner.

I had been uncomfortable all day long. It was hard enough knowing that Isabella would be sleeping in the bedroom right beneath me, warm, supple and waiting for me, especially after our connection in the sky. But having her pull the kinds of stunts she'd been pulling on the roof all day, then practically freezing herself to death just to be close to me was more than I was prepared to take.

I felt my body tick alongside the seconds toward twilight, racing with impatience toward the time where I could be free to both reprimand her for her behavior, and to make her pay for putting me through grief with sexual favors.

She was awake again, standing behind me with her hand at the back of my foot.

"It's almost time," she whispered, and her anticipation made me twitch in excitement.

"The sun is almost gone," she said again in a soft, sleep ridden voice.

Exhaustion was still evident on her, even more so than that morning. She poked her head around my side to look up at me from underneath and allowed me a glimpse of her face. She was beautiful, ever innocent and wide eyed in her eagerness. Nothing could have tainted that; not sleep deprivation, not worry, not stress, not anxiety or the grief of losing her parents. Nothing. She was just as beautiful that day as she was on the first night I had discovered her in her bedroom in Forks.

The sun dipped behind the clouds, and the pressure started building to a steady climb. I prayed that she had the good sense to put some distance between us before I broke free. She would be hurt if she was too near, especially that night. I was wrought with enough agitation to put down an army. After the day I'd had, I wouldn't have been able to control the explosion.

"My goodness...I hear you. I can hear it," she whispered breathily, spreading her palm against my upper thigh. "It's happening isn't it? I can barely stand the excitement. After today, I feel like we've been separated for an eternity."

The first hue of orange shot out between the clouds and for the first time that day, my insides relaxed.

Twilight...

_Isabella! Move…._

The transformation to human was much less appalling that the other way around, but just as fast. She felt when I budged and jumped back instinctively.

"You moved!" She squealed. "I felt it!"

The stone started parting across my back. Every crater that materialized on my surface opened with brute force and folded in on itself. I raged on the inside, too impatient with the process to make it graceful. I could smell her behind me. I'd been smelling her all day; the berries in her shampoo, the lotion on her skin, her arousal...

The primal urges of a lion were unmatched as far as I knew, and that, coupled with the 200 year old strike of a frustrated Gargoyle, made me all the more vicious. I'd had it. She yelped as finally I broke free, the lion's surface folding inside of the cracks, giving way for the human visage side of me.

I turned on her immediately, still standing on the edge, naked and bathed with the fresh light of the new moon behind me. Her lips trembled and I saw her eyes widen a mere second before they darted down to my very human erection. For the first time I was able to appreciate the borrowed instincts of my human form.

Before she blinked I was in front of her, grabbing her face more harshly that I would have liked. I left my wings out because I knew she liked it and with an effortless tug I pulled my cloak from her shoulders and let it drop to her feet.

She stared at me with stricken eyes, incapacitated by how overwhelmed I was making her. She tried to speak then but I didn't allow it. I pulled her off her feet and raised her to my face, one hand on her face and an arm around her waist.

The moment our lips met she cooed, uttering a sound like a helpless whimper. In my arm she was warm and softer than I remembered. There was no time to waste. My carnal desires wouldn't allow it. I flew us down to the window of the bedroom I had chosen for her. The room had been undisturbed all day and by then the castle was locked again and deserted.

The room wasn't as warm as I wanted it because the window had been left open all day and I needed to start a fire in the fireplace. That would wait. I brought in an involuntary gust of wind behind me because I moved so fast, but Isabella didn't seem to notice and if she did, she didn't care. Her legs were tightly wrapped around my naked waist and already I could feel the hot lava erupting from the spot between her legs. That was heat enough for us at the moment.

She rooted her fingers in my hair and held her own beautifully by aiming for the back of my throat with her tongue. I felt cold against her. Her warmth had a way of doing that to me. Those were the only moments I realized how cold I actually was. I slammed the window shut behind me with one had and took her through the air toward the bed. I knew I'd have left some feathers on the floor with the way I shot them into motion, but again, that would wait.

Her breathless panting was inviting. She was so mortal, so vulnerable and fragile in her eagerness to jump to this step, but I was no one to judge. I was in front of her on the way to the gallows.

I didn't want to tear her clothes. They were all she had for the moment until we were able to get her new ones at some point, but her legs were wrapped around me in such a vice like grip that I had no choice. My impatience was burdensome and I had to dispel it. With a single swipe, I pulled her pants away from her body, sideways. I glanced at her for some reaction to her destroyed pants, but there was none. Her eyes were closed, her eyebrows were pinned together in unabashed pleasure and through her parted lips came the most erotic cries.

I took her bottom lip into my mouth in my best attempt at gentleness, suckling on its plump fleshiness. I ran my tongue over it and felt her blood rush beneath the thin skin.

"You're warm again," she whispered, tearing at her jacket and shirt with frisky hands. I helped her, managing not to completely destroy those as well and when I had her naked, flushed body underneath me, I caved again. I hadn't seen her naked before. I always knew when she _was_ naked. I even knew when she had sex with her boyfriend, but in my bent insistence on staying in line over the years, and in trying to respect her and be a proper guardian, I had kept my eyes away.

I didn't have to anymore. And as predictable as it might have sounded, she was infinitely more beautiful and sexier than every mental picture I'd envisaged over the time. Her breasts were round and perky and tipped by small, pink, erect nipples. Her torso tapered in femininely at her waist, then turned out again to produce her sexy curvature of hips. The hair between her spread thighs was neither overwhelming nor modest and when she saw that I was noticing her she covered herself quickly with her hand and went flush red.

That flustered me. I grabbed her hand by the wrist and pinned it over her head against the pillows.

"Don't do that," I hissed into her face, with a single and tight shake of my head. She blinked in agreement and smiled. I lowered myself onto my elbows then and let my erection fall in line with her wet opening, dying against the urge to shove myself inside and melt against her warmth. The smell was maddening.

I didn't want to hurt her though, so I had to find a way to temper my excitement. I distracted my erection by diverting my attention to the other parts of her body. As gently as I could, I pulled one of her nipples into my mouth. I was warmer already, but not yet as warm as she was. There was still a distinct difference between us and she gasped in shock when my cool mouth closed over the peak of her breast. I massaged her other breast with my hand, unable to believe that I actually had her body in my mouth and that she was only a few minutes away from being mine in every conceivable way. She arched her back and raised her chest into my face. I slid one arm under her arched back and continued to massage her breast with my other hand, all the while being careful about how much of my weight I dropped onto her.

Not to neglect her second breast, I ran my tongue down into the valley in the center of her chest and came up on the top at the other side. The little nipple I met there twitched in excitement and when I sucked down on it, I felt it budge delightedly in my mouth.

I snaked my both arms underneath her then, then rocked my weight onto my right elbow so that I could run my left hand down her back to cup her butt cheek. The kind of control I had to practice with her was near murderous. Had I squeezed her ass the way I wanted and was itching to, the way I was able to, I'd have cut my fingers right into her flesh and tore off the entire cheek. Her suppleness was arousing and I started feel my own juices localize on the tip of my erection.

She raised her knees and opened her legs wider, clinging to the back my head as I continued to suck on her breast. Opening her legs against me like that drove me mad because it unleashed more of that sensual scent, drugging me to a sexual stupor. I squeezed her cheek harder and felt her twitch and stiffen beneath me, crying out in a sound that could have easily been interpreted as both pleasure and pain. My hand froze on her and I raised my head in alarm to look up.

"Why are you stopping?" She gasped, raising her head off the pillow to gawk at me with wide eyes. "Don't stop Edward. What's the matter?"

I realized then that she was willing to go through this with any amount of pain she could bear, just so that she could be with me.

"Promise that you'll stop me if I'm hurting you."

"Sex is supposed to hurt! What are you talking about!"

"Isabella!" I growled and she blanched with wide eyes. I closed my eyes and took a deep centering breath. "I'm sorry…."

She grabbed my face between her hands and slid her body down underneath me. Her eyes flashed between mine for a few terse seconds before she raised her face and rushed in with a fraught kiss. The kisses were short and feverish and between each one she turned her face at different interchanging angles.

"Oh Edward," she kissed. "You're so fucking sexy." That time she didn't say "_sorry_."

"I want you so…" another kiss. "Badly." More kisses. "It hurts."

With an arm around her waist, I pulled her body back to the pillows and shadowed the movement with mine over hers. Her knees automatically bent up to the sides of my chest then, and again, the scent of her sexual heat culminated my last reserve. I ran my hand from her knee, down the outside of her thigh to her hip and didn't stop until I made my way in and around between her legs.

She tossed her head back and closed her eyes when my fingers found her moisture there. I pushed the fingers of my other hand under her head and held her in place as I burrowed my face into her neck. There, I drank and sucked at the sweat popping out of her pores.

I'd only had sex once before when I was human and it had ended in tragedy. After that, in my Gargoyle body I stayed away from it. It wasn't through any insistence on my part but merely because I hadn't the desire to be with another Gargoyle, having never acquired the taste for it so to speak. And I was forbidden to be with a human in that way.

Rosalie threw herself at me often enough and even tried to hypnotize me with her power, realizing for the first time early on that I had the repellant gift. It made her furious and embarrassed and she despised me for the nil effect she had on me afterward.

However, after 200 years however, I wasn't without substantial knowledge about how to please a woman. I had seen and read about enough of it over time, and that night had proved that I didn't need any of that rehearsed knowledge with Isabella.

It came naturally. I responded to her body the way she responded to mine and my hands and limbs, coerced by hers, found their way around her satisfyingly.

I pressed my thumb to her clitoris and looked at her toss her head to the side and back, making her hair spill over across her face. All I could see were her teeth as her chin raised and her mouth opened in a silent cry. I kissed from one side of her neck to the next as I ran my fingers down and up over her clitoris making it slippery and swollen from the friction and mixture with her juices.

She started getting loud. Her fingers found their place at the back of my neck. She tried to dig at my skin, but my skin wouldn't let her. That only made her more determined because she scraped at it and dug in harder. I retracted my wings then, not wanting them to get in the way and the suction sputtered a few more feathers to the floor.

I wanted her lips so I pulled down her face to mine with the hand behind her head and fused our lips together, preferring to have her pant, gasp and cry into my mouth.

I increased the pace of my fingers on her clitoris until kissing was virtually impossible with the way she was screaming. I left my mouth open on hers, giving her the freedom to free herself, happy to suck on her bottom lip as she continued to groan.

I played on the dripping opening with my middle finger for a while and when she got really impatient and pulled on my hair I pushed it inside. She pulled her eyebrows together and sucked in a tight breath of air and seeing that she liked that I pushed in another. I continued to suck on her bottom lip, sometimes taking her top lip instead as I slid my fingers in and out. Her internal walls were hot and firm and I felt the muscles cling to my fingers sensationally.

"Uh….Uh! _Yes_!" She cried, in response to my heightened pace. So, I pushed in a third.

Her eyes snapped open and we got eye contact in that moment. For a second I thought that I was hurting her and just as I was about to pull my fingers out she tightened her walls around my fingers and tried to hold me there.

"That's incredible," she gasped. "Your fingers are so…._hard_!"

I smiled deviously and resumed my thrusting in and out of her. The faster I went the louder she screamed and she started pushing her hips down toward my hand. I controlled my forcefulness, only giving her as much as I thought she could take because I didn't want to stab her insides and hurt her in the process. Isabella however, had other plans for me.

"Harder Edward! Harder!" She cried out.

I sought out her tongue and pulled it into my mouth as I went fractionally harder and faster inside her cavity. Again, she found it hard to kiss in between her screaming. So I kissed the corners of her mouth and buried my face in her neck as she writhed underneath me.

"Gah! Ed…ah! Uh…yah!"

I felt the curvature of the passage at the top where it opened into her womb and I plunged in deeper toward it with fast fingers. I figured that since she wanted speed, I could give it to her and my kind of speed was unlike any other she knew. I went so fast that all groaning stopped. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. The only sounds that came out of her mouth were the hissing sounds of air being sucked in through her teeth. Five or six thrusts per second had her in convulsions and every time I crashed into her womb I made sure to graze against the wall on the opening.

When I felt her tighten around my fingers and her eyes flew open, I bent my fingers against the curve of her wall and pulled down on the inside. The scream that erupted from her throat made my erection budge. When she started to tremble I lowered my face to her chest with my fingers still pressing hard on her insides and took her breast in my mouth. Sucking on her nipple intensified the pleasure judging from her second scream and a few seconds later she released and fell back onto the bed.

"Edward!" She laughed. "Oh my goodness! I've never…_ever _felt anything like that before! And I've been fingered a lot!"

"Spare me the details please," I crooned against her chest, still nibbling on her perky parts.

"Sweet heavens, if your fingers feel like that…..I can't imagine what….uuhhhhh…."

I started rubbing the head of my erection against her. Her eyes rolled back into the back of her head and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, depriving me of the privilege. I covered her mouth with mine then and sucked her lip from under her teeth, taking it between mine instead. She sucked on my top lip and scraped her nails against my scalp while rocking her hips up and down against me.

"I have to make a wall inside of you," I said into her mouth.

"A what?"

"A wall."

"What do you mean, a wall?"

"I'll show you…."

Very gently I pushed the head in and watched carefully for any signs of pain. Already with just the head her eyes were bulging out of her head.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. Quit being a pussy….no pun intended….and do it already. I trust you."

I put my elbows on either side of her head and pressed my forearms to the sides of her face, cupping the top of her head with my both hands. I pushed myself in some more, as slowly as I could manage given my throbbing desire and her welcoming walls. Her muscles push against me instinctively.

"Isabella…"

"Do it….please," she whispered. Her cheeks were flushed and the heat that came off of her body was enough to warm the both of us. Judging from that and the sweat all over her body I knew that she wasn't cold. Again, I pushed in and with every push I went in a little further. Then I heard her stop breathing.

"Please, breathe," I asked of her, and she exhaled.

I inched my way in a little further and watched and she clenched her jaw shut. The pulse there was popping. I tried not to complain because I knew she wouldn't have any of it. My only hope was to be gentle. After a series of continuous, short and gentle thrusts upward and with the help of her squirting fluids, I was inside. Her entire body was clenched and went rigid in discomfort. It was obvious. I was too big for her and definitely too hard.

I opened my mouth to protest, but she put her fingers to my lips and gasped.

"Don't say it," she shook her head and a tear spilled forth from each of her eyes. She bent her head back and took a deep breath. "It's supposed to hurt. If it didn't hurt, it wouldn't be real. This makes it beautiful."

"I'm too strong, Bella."

She brought her face back inline with mine and smiled with unconditional love in her eyes.

"You just called me Bella," she whispered, shifting her teary eyes back and forth between mine.

I nodded slowly and stroked the side of her face with the back of my index.

"Do you prefer Isabella?"

"Edward, you can call me whatever you want."

"I like them both, but Bella suits you better tonight."

She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I don't think I could love you more than I love you right now," she said.

"Then you are late, because I have loved you in an incapacitating way ever since discovering you the first time….three years ago before your accident."

A wave of emotion fell over her face and something like pain flashed through her eyes.

"You've loved me this much for so long?"

"I have."

A small smile tugged at one corner of her mouth then and she blushed. "You're just saying that…."

"Amicule, deliciae, num is sum qui mentiar tibi?" I smiled back, rubbing our noses together.

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"It means. Baby…." and I kissed the tip of her nose. "Sweetheart…." another kiss on her mouth. "Would I lie to you?"

She pushed her mouth onto mine when I gave her the answer and forced me to respond with like force, stealing her breath in the process.

I eased my boulder of an erection out slightly, then pushed it back in, making her heart trip in her chest. She clenched her muscles again and tightened her arms around my neck.

"Oh! What's the wall?" She breathed. I thrust inside of her again, this time going deeper than before, keeping my eyes focused on her face for any sign of dangerous pain.

"I have to secrete some of my first sperm into you and line your walls with it. It will calcify only slightly and protect your from the full extent of….my orgasm."

She blinked and took another deep breath with wonder in her eyes.

"So, you literally meant…a wall. Like a real freaking wall?"

"I can take it our after. It won't hurt you."

"This is too surreal."

"When we're done, your walls will still be languid enough to take my fingers going in and plucking it out."

"Pluck?"

"Bella, you cannot withstand the force of my orgasm. It will literally blast a hole through your womb."

After a few seconds of gaping at me like I was a madman she nodded and took her lip between her teeth again.

"Ok, do it."

"Are you sure?"

"I trust you. This has been done before right?"

"Yes, but…_I_ haven't."

"Doesn't matter. Just do it. I sound like a retarded, repetitive Nike advertisement."

The only way to keep her distracted while it was happening was to play with her clitoris and kiss her at the same time. So, I brought one of my hands down between us and started stroking her there. She responded immediately. I rocked my hips into her then and when she stiffened, I increased the pressure on her clit. She relaxed again. The pre-cum came out and spread across the opposing wall of her womb. It would take about a minute to calcify. I tightened my hand on the top of her head and increased my stroking on her clitoris when I heard the calcifying start to take effect; something _she_ could not have heard.

She felt it though and her eyes opened in response. With her brows pulled intently together and with her neck muscles charged, she locked our eyes and smiled.

"It tickles," she giggled. "Wow! Yahaha! Feel that!"

"Sssshhh." I smiled and rubbed the tip of her nose with mine again.

"Ok, it's a little weird now….cold…it's cold…Uuuuhhhhh."

I stayed still and waited for her to acclimatize to it.

"It will adapt to your body temperature soon," I told her. Her brown eyes danced all over my face as she lay still beneath me with her knees pressed against my chest. "Are you ok?"

"Edward, I'm fucking excellent right now….sorry."

I laughed, and the vibration rocked my erection on her insides. She rolled her eyes back into her head and let out a small groan when she felt it.

"I can get soooo used to this," she whispered.

"Amicule, I'm going to _make sure_ that you sleep tomorrow. After tonight, no amount of stubbornness will keep you awake."

"That's mean."

I kissed her mouth. "Ready?"

"What, like it's a race or something?" She giggled. "Edward….seriously now…"

I intended to make her pay for her cockiness. Once I realized that the sperm wall was hardened and ready for me, I began my plowing. Not two seconds into it and she was screaming in shock. Her eyes were wide and her little arms couldn't have possibly clung to me any tighter. I put my two hands back on the top of her head and thrust in and out of her, slowly at first, but that was enough to have her gasping for air.

Her slippery warmth made it easier than I'd expected and already my body was the same temperature as hers; fiery hot.

She dug her nails into my back and I felt a few of them break against my skin. She hadn't noticed yet, not with what I was doing to her. Her body tried to block me at first, naturally, and I had to hook my right hand under her knee and push her leg up slightly by her thigh. More access was granted me with that move and it got easier.

The more I went, the better it felt. She was speechless for a while and nothing but heaving utterances and short breaths made it out of her mouth. I dared to go faster, restraining myself for her benefit, but not enough to douse my arousal.

Slowly but surely her body adapted to me and I knew she started enjoying it when I heard the first scream since insertion. It even shocked me slightly, but more than that it excited me. I drove myself harder into her, reeling off her screams, the redness in her cheeks, the sweat on her face, the smell of her sex, the bobbing of her breasts, the way they felt crushed against my chest. She was unmistakably woman.

She started rocking her hips with mine, abandoning herself to the thrill of her experience. It was nothing I expected. I had a vague memory of what the pleasure felt like when I was human and I'd always been told that the sensations were magnified a hundred fold in Gargoyle skin. But this was sensational. I had a hard time separating my body from hers, we were so fused, even as I held most of my weight off of her on my elbows. She easily eliminated any space there might have been between us by pressing her body to mine and locking her thighs tightly around my torso.

Her sweat rubbed off on to me and the sound of our bodies colliding overwhelmed me. I wanted more. I picked up the pace again, still not nearly as fast as I wanted to go but by the look and sound of her, it was a lot. She screamed with every thrust…and there were many. Her head was held back, her back arched and her body vibrated deliciously. I arched her back toward me some more by moving my arm in the space between her back and the bed. That gave me oral access to her breasts. They spread apart slightly as I pulled her up and jerked backward with my every thrust.

She squealed and dug her nails into me harder when I sucked her nipple into my mouth. With my other hand I held her ass in my hand and ground her against me harder.

Her screams became incoherent. I knew she was in pleasure because she was slamming her hips against me relentlessly; and I knew she was in pain because every now again she would twist her face and bite down on her lip to conceal her discomfort. She seemed to like the mixture of pleasure and pain.

I moved over onto the next breast, taking it with my teeth first, and then closing in with my mouth. All the while my shoving grew faster and more intense, until she was vibrating convulsively. Her sweat was rolling off her chest and stomach in trickles and her face and lips were so red she appeared almost bruised.

I felt myself nearing an orgasm. The tightness of her walls helped. Her muscles were contracting against me viciously and I was unable to control the oncoming eruption.

"Bella," I hissed.

She could barely answer.

"It's coming….." Even I found it hard to speak.

"YESSSSSS," she hissed through her clenched teeth as her head thrashed behind her. In one last moment of bravery, I went recklessly fast holding her tight to me.

Her knees jerked back toward her chest, faster and faster. She started to tremble in my arms. This was worth the wait, I thought to myself as I slid in and out of her in deliria. I took her nipple in my mouth again and squeezed her butt as we crashed against each other.

She was the first one to scream in finality. Her legs tightened around my waist and her thigh muscles buckled. When I felt her internal muscles spasm, the squeezing pleasure drove me over the edge. She screamed again when she felt the blow of my orgasm slam against the wall I had plastered on her insides. In her shock she widened her eyes and gawked at me.

We were both shaking from the disorienting impact of our orgasms, clinging to each other and still very much fused where it mattered. My arms trembled around her as I tried not to crush her ribs. The pressure was almost unbearable. My instinct to squeeze in rapt pleasure was powerful, but instead, I let go and watched as she fell backward onto the bed. Her legs released me then and I slipped out, still as hard as I was when I entered her.

She was drinking in the air with open mouthed gasps, her chest rising and falling rapidly. I slipped my index and middle finger inside of her then and found the wall deep inside.

"Oohhhhh." She reacted to my fingers nervously.

"It can't stay in there," I said, as I tugged gently and separated it from her body. I folded it between my fingers in the open space inside, held it and pulled it out easily since her vaginal walls were still open from our intercourse. Right behind my mini suction procedure my sperm came spilling right out of her. I used my fingers to inspect her gently, running them along her inner walls to make sure that there was none of me left inside. She stayed still and let me tend to her.

"What would happen if your sperm stayed inside?" She asked.

"It would harden and effectively, kill you."

"What the…"

"Yes."

"How can you be sure that it's all out then?"

"Well," I said, kissing her stomach. "I can suck to make sure."

She raised an eyebrow at me and smiled teasingly.

"I'm not that lucky."

"Oh yes you are," I smiled and pushed her knees up and apart again.

She liked every minute of it. I went down on her and made sure there was none of me left inside. When I was done with that area, I paid much attention to her clitoris with my mouth and tongue. And because she was already so sensitive and ticklish everywhere from our intercourse, her third orgasm for the night was quick.

I felt the swollen, little knob of pleasure dance in my mouth. I loved the flickering feel of it between my tongue and teeth and the taste was addicting. Her cries were penetrating. She clung to my hair for support. Soon after, she screamed out for the umpteenth time that night, threw her head back and shuddered around me.

"Oh! I hate the sun!" She gasped, when it was over, covering her face with her hands and thrashing her head from side to side. "I don't want morning to come. I want to stay like this…."

"Adversus solem ne loquitor," I answered her, kissing my way up the center of her stomach, between her breasts, up her throat, over her chin and onto her parted lips.

"Mmmm," she smiled. "What was that? It sounded sexy."

"Don't speak against the sun," I said, in simple translation with a wink.

She sighed and fluttered her lips dramatically.

"In any case, amicule, you need to sleep. You've had next to none in over a day."

"Damn it." She pouted. I lay down next to her on my side and pulled her back against my chest.

I petted and stroked her curvaceous lines, from her earlobes to her thighs, repeatedly. Her body unwound under my fingertips and with every stroke she let out a small sigh. With my other hand I massaged her head and I dropped light kisses onto her hair. She was exhausted and I expected that she would be terribly sore when she awoke. I had tried my best to be gentle, but I knew that she took some blows to her body, both externally and especially internally.

In less than five minutes, my Isabella was asleep. There were still many hours until daybreak, but she needed rest. I also remembered the list she had narrated to me earlier that day.

I fulfilled her first request by making love to her and I intended to give her another by holding her in my arms while she slept.

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	11. Chapter 10 Some like it hot

**A/N: All my love to my wonderful readers. Thank you for reviewing and for giving me encouragement. I wanted to say a special thanks to some new readers and good friends who left wonderfully moving reviews and PMS for this story so far.**

**Its-rpattz-baby and Angeltiger33, I love you crazy girls!**

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**To nicarter and teambella23 for being with me forever. I sincerely heart you. M, the feather pillow was supposed to be here, but I ran out of words…lol. Next chap!**

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**ABOUT THIS CHAPTER – Some more love making. I really want to show how close these two get in their hideaway, so the next few chapters will show that. But don't worry, Adventure is right around the corner, and I hope you like lemons cause….damn. **

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**Chapter 10**

**Some like it hot, Some like it cold**

**Bella**

My entire body was off the clock and it was probably the reason I didn't wake with my nightmares before dawn like I usually did. After all, dawn in France wasn't dawn in Seattle. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that I slept next to an attentive Gargoyle all night long; wrapped in his stern arms, borrowing off my heat to give me heat.

Everything hurt when I opened my eyes; my uterus, my vaginal walls, my stomach, chest, arms, legs, my neck. I pushed up on one hand on my side and fell right back onto the pillows with a gasping wince. I hissed and clutched on to my ribs.

"Tell me where it hurts," Edward said. I turned my face up and to the side to see him standing, fully dressed at the side of the bed. I frowned for a few seconds and shifted my eyes over him, then over the rest of the room. For a while I'd forgotten where I was and who I was with. And when the memories of the past hours flooded back to me, I exhaled and smiled. The room was warm and I could hear the soft licking of a fire nearby. I hadn't even noticed the fireplace on the first night.

Edward leaned over me then and stroked some of my hair out of my face.

"Bella?"

My smile widened. "I like how that sounds on you," I said, sleepily.

His fingers trailed down the side of my face and grazed my jaw. They were cold again.

I tried to sit up for the second time but the soreness was too much and though I would have liked to, I couldn't hide it.

"Stay put," he said, raising a leg to sit on the bed next to me.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's almost time for me to leave."

"Why do you have to go out there? You can just stay in here, with me."

A brash frown flickered across his brow and he shook his head.

"We stay out of reach."

His hand passed down the middle of my chest and breasts and settled on my stomach. And just like an automatic switch, I was turned on again. I put my hand on top of his, and marveled at the difference in his temperature. He had been warm, hot even, when we were making love, but I realized that he had since gone back to his regular coolness. His skin was neither warm nor too cold, and to test, I stretched my left hand over to the wall alongside the bed and opened my palm against it. He was exactly the same temperature as the wall.

"Why do you need to stay out of reach?" I asked.

"Because, if I get hurt when I am stone, I stay that way. It's just a precaution."

I registered this as we looked at each other. He lowered his body onto his left elbow with his right hand still on my stomach under my hand.

"Really?" I asked. "So if I something happens to damage your stone surface….it stays with you even when you awake?"

"Yes. The stone is a vital part of my body. The damage stays and almost never heals."

He moved his hand from my stomach then, pulled his cloak back and raised his shirt to show me his ribs. I saw three deep scratches on his side, from his back to his front. They were reddish in color and though thin in width, looked like fresh wounds. I hadn't noticed them during the night or when he stood before me naked on the roof the day before, and that bothered me. My hands had been all over him when we were together and even though there were much more obvious parts of his body making themselves known to me at the time, I still didn't know how I missed that.

"How did you get those?"I asked.

"It was a long time ago. I got caught away from my perch at dawn and had to rest on the rooftop of an old castle in Geneva. The castle was being refurbished at the time and a contractor on the roof decided to sharpen his blade across my side. It was his first time up there and he didn't expect to find me. I'm sure he went crazy when I wasn't up there the day after. That's another reason we don't like sleeping out. It alerts suspicion when we disappear. It's why we try to keep our perches secretive and out of the way."

"How long ago was that?"

"Fifty years or so."

"They still look somewhat fresh," I raised my hand to touch them. "Does it hurt?"

"Not really. I'm used to it." He dropped his shirt and put his hand back on my stomach. "That's why we feel threatened when humans get close to us during the day. Destroying me in my stone form is the only sure way to kill me before my time."

"I'd never have guessed that," I answered. "You're vulnerable in rock, but what about when you're awake?"

"Indestructible."

"Then why are you going to die, Edward? I want to avoid that conversation for as long as I can, but I have to know at the same time."

He dropped his head slightly and pulled his eyebrows together.

"Can we talk about it tonight? I promise I'll tell you everything."

"Ok, but this time you can't let me sleep. I don't want to waste anymore time with you. I can't believe you let me sleep last night."

"I had to let you sleep last night. You were exhausted. You'll be tired today as well and I hope you will get yourself rested, because tonight my love….you will need your energy."

My blood warmed at his intonation and I blushed slightly.

"I'd still like you to stay indoors today where I can see you. I'd never hurt you, Edward."

"If I stay in here, you won't rest. And besides, I'm a creature of habit. _I_ will rest easier if I am out there. Now tell me, where are you hurt?"

"It's no big deal. I'll be ok."

"Bella." He smiled, stroking my tummy with his thumb. "For hours last night, you slammed your body repeatedly into something as hard as a brick wall. And that's not counting being crushed against me while I flew you over the Atlantic the night before. May we try this again? Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere."

He dropped his eyes to the spot on the blankets covering my crotch and again, I blushed. I literally felt the blood pool in my cheeks.

"Here?" He asked softly, creeping with his fingers down toward the area. I bit my bottom lip and closed my eyes, feeling the immediate, moist reaction to his cool touch through the fabric.

"Yes," I answered. His hand disappeared from me for a second and I opened my eyes to realize that he was going in under the covers to find me with his bare skin. The instant his cold fingers connected with my hot mold, I sucked in a crippled breath of air then bit down harder into my lip.

"Here?" He whispered, over my face.

I nodded feverishly, feeling a chill reverberate off his hand.

Slowly, he slid his middle and ring fingers down against the raw flesh between my legs, tucking his index and baby fingers in the corners. I opened my knees fractionally to allow him access as his eyes twinkled under his brooding frown. I all but started pouring out of myself onto his cold fingers, excited by how much colder his hand felt now that it was on the hottest part of my body.

"Take a deep breath," he advised. I did as he said and before I could exhale again, something mildly electric shot through his fingers and went right up inside of me.

"Edward!" I gasped with widened eyes, grabbing on to his wrist under the covers with my both hands. "What are you doing?!"

"Sssshhh," he coaxed, with a gentle smile. "I'm taking care of you." The current spread up my vaginal cavity and coated my womb with a mild, vibrating tingle. It soothed everything on contact. "How does it feel now?"

I blinked stupidly for a few seconds then erupted in surprised giggles. "Did you just…?"

He then slid his fingers up over me and grazed over my clit in the process, making it budge in delight. I groaned in disappointment when he moved his hand, but was amazed at how instantly the area was repaired. The soreness and throbbing feeling of being grated against a washboard had vanished completely.

"You healed me?" I asked in wonderment. "I didn't know you could do that! I mean I think you said it…but…did you even say it? I can't even remember now! Whoa!"

"Where else?" He asked, amused by my befuddled reaction.

I swallowed and threw the covers off my body, exposing my naked body to him shamelessly.

"Here," I said, pointing to my ribs. He put his right hand over my left side and asked me to take another deep breath. When I did, the same shooting, electric current passed from his hand through my skin. I felt it sink behind my ribs, almost to my back then spread across that entire side of my body in cool torrents.

"Oh wow," I whispered, as I exhaled my held breath. "Edward, that's miraculous."

He moved his hand over to the next side and I took another deep breath without him having to ask. I closed my eyes as the same sensations surged through me and eradicated all points of soreness. As shameless as it might have been, even being healed by him like that was arousing. Every zap of his fingers and graze of his thumb made my hair stand and my body incline toward him.

By the time he was done with my torso, inner thighs, arms, butt cheeks, shoulders, back and neck, I was languid on the bed and ready for round two.

"Gargoyle foreplay?" I giggled.

"Sit up," he laughed, as he pushed himself up from his side to sit.

It was as if nothing was wrong with me when I awoke. The change was so drastic I almost couldn't remember the pain I had just a minute before.

"All better?" He asked.

"All better," I answered with raised eyebrows and expressive hand gestures. "So, what else can you do?!"

He pinched my cheek adoringly and stood up.

"It's time. I brought you enough stuff to take you through the day, though I think you'll be back to sleep before you know it."

As void of warmth as he was, when he left my side, I felt cold all of a sudden. A chill snagged my naked skin and I had to pull the covers around me again. I shuffled my weight to the end of the wide bed and jumped down.

The coffee table in front of the live fireplace was laden with fruit, among other various food items. There was a goblet with something to drink, a decanter, a cup and a glass. On the back of the armchair hung a robe and a pair of pants, and on the nightstand next to me was little plastic card. I picked the card up between my middle finger and thumb and squinted at it. It was all in French except for the numbers.

"What's this?" I asked.

"A phone card," he answered. "You should call Angela and let her know that you are ok, without telling her where you are, of course. The Host will be keeping very close tabs on Angela for any clues."

"Shit, Angela," I acknowledged as my heart skipped in trepidation. Blade came back to mind then and suddenly the fantasy was soured. "With what phone?"

He took a cell phone out of his pocket then and handed it to me. "Use mine. Yours is in your purse over there on the chair. It won't work over here."

"Gargoyles have cell phones?"

"They sometimes come in handy. Our range for each other isn't limitless you know. We _can_ be out of range, like right now for instance."

"So have the others tried to call you yet?"

"I'm sure they've tried, but it's been off the entire time. If they want to find me, they'll have to do it the old fashioned way and sniff me out."

"Oh…." I frowned down at the phone in my hand. "What if they call when I turn it on? It's still night in Seattle, isn't it?"

"Call Angela then turn it off when you're done. That way you won't have to deal with any calls."

"What's with the phone card though?"

"You expected me to have some special kind of Gargoyle plan with a phone company? Phone cards are the simplest, less complicated and untraceable. No one keeps tabs on phone cards."

"I didn't expect you to have a phone in the first place," I answered with cheek. "Where did you get all this stuff anyway?" I asked, motioning to the food and clothes.

He glanced at the window fleetingly and placed his hands in his cloak pockets.

"Two hundred years has made me resourceful," he said with a wink. "I have my ways."

I noticed his attire then and tilted my chin to the side.

"Do you always wear those same clothes?"

"Are you trying trick me into staying too long indoors with all your questions, Isabella?" He smiled mischievously, and a lock of hair fell in front of his eyes. With a slight whip of his head, he sent the lock of hair back.

"No," he said, in answer to my question after I had blushed. "But my clothes all look the same because they're all black. We have a secret station for our clothes where we swap when we need to and we don't buy them in stores like you do. We have a special supplier, seeing that we have special requirements."

"I felt the holes in the back of your shirt," I said, gesturing to him with my hand. "Is that what you're talking about? And the slits at the back of your cloak?"

"Yes, to accommodate the retraction of our wings," he answered.

"I get it now."

His eyes dropped and made a heated path from my mouth to the hair covered V at the apex of my thighs. That's when I realized the blanket over my shoulder was open at the center and I was exposed to him. My sharp intake of breath jerked my shoulders slightly, and regretfully, brought his eyes back up.

I noticed the way the indentation in his eyebrows grew deeper and the brooding look in his eyes sent a heated tickle down my spine.

"I shall see you tonight, Isabella" he said, suggestively. It was almost a whisper.

"You have to go," I said, feeling my heart drop exorbitantly. He held his hand out to me which I took and went toward him for the hug he offered. The blanket fell away from my body as I moved forward and his cool, hard frame felt familiar against me. He felt like home. His hands moved down the center of my back and he dropped his face to the side of mine. His breath on my shoulder was cold and I had to close my eyes and inhale roughly in order to control the passion that unfolded between us.

He turned his face in and pressed his lips to my cheek. Feeling unsatisfied, I turned my face towards his and imposed with my own lips. Every place he touched, burned. All too soon, the coolness in his fingers started adapting to my body and his tongue inside of my mouth was softening.

I grabbed at his hair and lost all ten fingers inside, but before we could get carried away he held my face in his hands and pulled away abruptly.

"I'm all out," he said. "The sun is here and I have to go. I love you."

I barely had time to respond to him before he was darting out through the window, leaving me with my hands clutching my bare chest. The gust of wind he left behind fanned the fire in the fireplace and raised my hair off my shoulders. I grabbed at the robe on the chair back and pulled it over myself quickly, then ran to the open window. With the top half of my body stuck outside, I looked up at the sky. The first signs of light stretched across the dim sky and I found my self holding my ears out for the sounds of him transforming.

As hard as I tried though, there was nothing that reached my ears and a few minutes later when the sun burst through, I knew it was done.

"I miss you already," I said.

With despondency in my heart, I closed the window but didn't lock it. I then turned to face the castle abode and was suddenly ravenous at the sight of the fruit.

Before I could devour it though, I had to relive myself in the bathroom. I couldn't remember the last time I went and it even burned slightly on the way out. Without exaggeration, almost a full minute passed with me peeing and I couldn't believe how much I had stored inside. How I hadn't been leaking all over the place before then, I didn't know.

When I was done, I surveyed myself in the mirror and opened the robe. The wide mirror that stretched across the sink was low enough to allow me the view from my hips, up. With my head tilted slightly to the side I gazed at my naked chest and the curve from my hips to my shoulders. My body looked the same, but I felt different. Edward's hands and lips had branded me during the night and the memory of his mouth on my quivering parts made my knees buckle. I had to hold on to the edge of the sink in order to withstand the force of his memory.

I was whet with acute desire, to the point where even looking at my own face in the mirror made me blush. So too did looking down at my tuft of private area. I raised a disapproving eyebrow at it then regained eye contact with myself in the mirror. Eric had never once caught me unprepared in that department. Since breaking up with him however and because I didn't see the need to primp after him, I had stopped going to my waxing appointments.

"Well, it's not like I knew I'd be abducted by a Gargoyle and flown all the way to fucking France….sorry," I grumbled, then rolled my eyes at myself.

I remembered trying to cover myself with my hand when Edward saw me and he had grabbed my hand away.

"Hardly likely he'd have thought about a razor," I said, shifting my eyes around the lavish bathroom. There was a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap by the sink.

"Oh well. At least he got the essentials right."

There was a tub in the open against the wall. I wasn't surprised to find that the pipes didn't work, but I _was_ surprised to discover the two basins of water inside. I bent over and dipped my fingers in. The water was even warm. With a small frown I stood straight and looked back toward the open door.

"How in the hell did he…."

I shrugged it off immediately and resigned myself to the fact that Edward would always be a phenomenon. As soon as I thought it, the world 'always' struck a negative chord deep inside and I had to grip my stomach in order to withstand the agony.

I stood there like that for a while, staring at the water in the basins and holding on to my stomach with my two hands as if I were in pain. I _was_ in pain. And I knew that spending more time with him and falling deeper in love with every day would only make it harder for me in the end. But I couldn't let that scare me away from making my time with him all that it could be. Technically he had a month left, but if the Legion got to us sooner, our time would be cut shorter.

"God, it could be days….hours," I muttered, and the pain in my stomach worsened. I tried to forget. I shook my head stubbornly like a madwoman in the bathroom and tried to shrug off the looming threat of the future. Ignoring it for the while was the only thing that helped, because trying to digest the truth was wholly impossible. Even facing my fate with the Legion because of everything was no where as threatening as the thought of losing Edward. Absolutely nothing trumped that.

I stepped into the tub finally and used the water in the basins and the soap by the sink, to bathe.

After my bath, I pulled on my robe again, brushed my teeth then headed to the breakfast table. I wasted no time in stuffing my mouth with grapes. I was also delighted to find that the decanter was filled with coffee. There was sugar but no milk and that made me smile sadly to myself.

My Gargoyle knew me well. I liked my coffee without milk and with a little sugar. The coffee was remarkable for my nerves though I missed the alcohol and after eating to my heart's content, I dressed myself and climbed through the window. Once outside, I walked across the expansive terrace with my eyes aimed up at the tower. I couldn't see him because from there I could only see the pointed tip of the tower. The temptation to climb back up there was strong, but I fought it. Instead, I turned toward the view of the planes and noticed the wide lake on one end, admirably.

By mid morning, I was bored stiff. I had walked the terrace and admired the view but it was too cold outside. So, I went back in and ate some more. I even poked my head out into the corridor inside the castle. The place was abandoned. I remembered he said something about tours on the two first floors, but from where I was there was nothing to see or hear.

Thankfully, my boredom took its toll and before long I was tired again.

"You'd _better_ drain me tonight, Edward," I said as I climbed back into bed. "Because there's absolutely nothing to do here during the day."

As soon as I was under the covers again I remembered I had to call Angela. It wasn't something I was looking forward to, especially knowing the mouth she had on her. I expected a sound cussing, but I knew it was cruel to leave her worried, so I relented.

It took a while to work through the phone card, but I eventually got Angela's number to ring.

"Hello?" She answered, on the third ring.

"Angel?" I responded, my heart racing nervously.

"FUCK! FUCK! _FUUUUUCK_! BELLA?????!!!"

"Yah."

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU! WHERE ARE YOU! I'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU! I CALLED THE POLICE! I CALLED YOUR UNCLE PHIL IN FORKS! I CALLED THE FUCKING NAVY! WHAT'S GOING ON?!!"

"Angel, I'm sorry. Please calm down."

The sound of Blade barking in the background gave me goose bumps and my heart lurched into my throat. "Blade!"

"NO!" Angela continued to scream at me. "BLADE?? NO! NO _FUCKING _BLADE! NOT UNTIL YOU EXPLAIN!"

"Angela!" I shrieked. "Since when are _you_ such a potty mouth?!"

"SINCE MY BEST FRIEND VANISHED AND HER CAR WAS LEFT ABANDONED IN FRONT OF A FUCKING PET CEMETERY. SINCE I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR YOUR PASTY ASS RIGHT NOW?!"

"Who?"

"THE COPS! MIKE! JESSICA. BEN! FUCK! ERIC QUIT HIS JOB 'CAUSE HE'S FUCKING GREIVING FOR YOU RIGHT NOW! I'VE BEEN BAWLING MY EYES OUT THINKING YOU'RE KIDNAPPED OR DEAD! BEN DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ME ANYMORE. BLADE FUCKING CRIES!"

"Blade cries?!" I shot up into a seated position. "Oh no, Angel! Put him on so that I can talk to him!"

"NOOO!!! EXPLAIN!! I'M SO PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW!"

"Look, I'm ok, alright! I promise! I just…I had something to do."

"You had something to do," she said dryly, dropping the level of her voice. Her voice was trembling with passion and though she softened her tone, the acidity was still very cutting. "Like a fucking errand or something. You just….had something to do."

"Yes."

"You're unbelievable."

"I couldn't call before now. That's the honest truth. It was impossible."

"Why? Where _ARE_ you?"

"I can't say."

"What?!"

"But I'm safe, for now."

"WHAT! What do you mean by that?!" Something broke in the back ground. "BLADE!" She screamed.

"Blade?!" I shrieked again. "What's happening?!!"

"HE'S GOING CRAZY TRYING TO GET AT THE PHONE AND HE KNOCKED OVER MY GLASS OF GIN."

"You're drinking Gin?"

"YES, I'M NOW AN ALCOHOLIC TOO!"

"Angel…..please? Would you like me to hang up and call back in a few minutes after you've calmed down? I can't talk to you like this."

"THEN-HANG-THE FUCK-ON!" She screamed. I heard the phone fall against something with a loud clank. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, listening to anything I could hear on her end. I expected her to be pissed, but this? It wasn't like her, and I fully accepted that it was my fault.

Blade's barking grew distant and I heard the slamming of a door. I assumed the that she put him outside. She didn't come back right away and for the longest while I lay there listening to a bunch of odd sounds coming through the line. When the vacuum cleaner went on I raised an eyebrow and moved the phone from my ear so that I could stare at it questioningly.

After the vacuum cleaner was the blasting rock music. I snuggled in under the blankets and looked at the calm fire in the fireplace as I waited for her to get it all out of her system. About ten minutes later she came back on.

"I'm calm," she said bluntly.

"Great, well I have like five minutes left on the phone card so…..thanks."

"Don't be fucking smart with me," she snapped. "And what phone card are you talking about? Where's your phone?"

"Um….I can't give details, ok. It's important that no one knows where I am. I just called to tell you that I'm fine and that you don't need to worry.

"What the fuck? What the hell is going on with you Bella? Why can't I know where you are? Why is it a secret? Are you…." Her voice trailed off, but then she came back with a whisper. "Bella? Are you kidnapped? Fucking shit!"

"Angel…."

"Someone's there with you right now aren't they? And they said you can't say anything or else they'll kill you! Oh my God! Are you hurt! Bellaaaaa, I have to get you help!"

"Angel…..no…."

"Shit, you're being monitored. Ok. If you're kidnapped just say - Blade."

"Angela, you're not listening…." She kept interrupting me.

"Can you give me a hint? Did they _rape_ you?!"

"ANGELA!" I squealed. "I AM NOT KIDNAPPED! I WAS NOT RAPED! I AM FINE!"

"Seriously?"

"I promise."

"Well fuck you Bella," she grunted, and I threw my hand in the air. I couldn't win this one. "I've been worried for nothing this whole time. How the fuck am I supposed to tell everyone now that you're just….ok. And that you left without saying a word because _you had something to doooo_…."

"I'm sorry, again. I didn't intend this and it just sort of happened."

"Why can't you tell me where you are?"

"Because, we don't want to be found."

"We? Who…."

"I'm with Edward."

Silence.

"Angela?"

More silence.

"Edward," she said. "The one from the dream."

"Yes."

"You ran away with Edward."

"Er….yes."

"What the fuck, is he wanted or something. Why don't you want to be found? Who the fuck is this guy anyway?!"

"It's a long story….If I could explain, I would. And no, he's not a criminal."

Although, he really _was_ wanted….by the Legion.

"Angela, I need this ok," I said with a sigh. "I don't know how long I'll be, but I need to be with him right now. It's important to me and it's incredibly complicated."

"He's married isn't he? That's why it's a secret! Fuck Bella…of all the screw ups."

"He's definitely not married, Angel."

"But I'm your best friend. You're not telling me anything. You've been a shitty best friend."

"I know! Yes, I have. And I'm sorry. I can't make up for it right now, but hopefully, one day, I will."

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Like what?"

"You're being awfully vague and mysterious, and honestly, it's freaking me out."

"Don't be afraid. I'm happier than I've been in forever, really. Edward is….magnificent."

"Well he'd better be and I hope the sex is fucking worth it, Bella. Because what you're doing right now is seriously fucked up. You've walked out on me, Blade, school and work. I don't understand. What is he anyway, some kind of supernatural fuck?"

"He is," I answered honestly.

"Whatever. You're safe. Fine. I'm still so angry with you."

"You have a right to be. Can I talk to Blade now?"

"Hold on."

A short while later Blade's yelping barked through the phone.

"Oh my god! Blade! BABY!" My eyes teared up at the sound of him. He knew it was me too because I could hear his excitement and I just knew he was going crazy right then.

"I miss you so much!" I started to cry. "Are you ok boy? I'm sorry I just left you like that! I wanted you here with me. I would have brought you if I could!"

He barked and whimpered and the sound tugged at my heart and created a massive lump in my throat.

"God, I really wish I could see you again," I said with a sniffle as I wiped my eyes. "I love you so much. I can't believe how much I miss you right now."

"Are you done?" Angela's voice came back on.

"No! Put him back on!"

I heard him again. "Blade, Mama loves you, ok. And I'll try to come back to you. I promise. But in the meanwhile I need you to take care of Angel for me, and you can sleep in my bed anytime you want. Ok? I love you boy."

He yelped in response and I laughed at the sound.

"Now?" Angela came back on.

"Ok," I said with a sigh. "I have to go now."

"Bella?"

"Yes Angel."

"Promise me you're ok. If you need help, I'll get it."

"I promise you. I'm fine. What happened to my car by the way?"

"The cops kept it as evidence," she answered.

I groaned in displeasure and slapped my forehead with my hand. It really was a huge mess, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I insisted on having Edward in my life. It was the price to pay for the pleasure of his love.

"Ok, I guess you can tell them I'm fine too," I said, not knowing how to deal with that part.

"They're gonna ask me tons of questions about this, Bella. I hate the fucking interrogation. I don't think I want to handle this. Why don't you call the PD yourself?"

"I'll think about it."

"You'll think about it? Well I'm sure glad you have the luxury of choosing what you should and shouldn't have to deal with, Bella," she snapped. "You've left a horrid mess behind here."

"I'm sorry."

"Yes, I know! You've said that already. Look I gotta go too. Just call the cops and make it easier on me…please. Detective Uley. Bye."

She hung up.

"Angel?"

I sighed, turned off the phone and chugged it to the foot of the bed. For the rest of the morning I was agitated and sleep was impossible. I was riled up after my conversation with Angela and missing Blade. I lay there and stared at the ceiling for the longest while, sneering at the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

"What am I doing?" I groaned anxiously, wishing Edward was with me for comfort. I needed his assurance though I knew he wouldn't be able to give it. He'd be honest with me and affirm just how crazy and dangerous this was. He'd been doing that from the start. I closed my eyes and turned onto my stomach and tried to sleep. Out of habit, I shoved my hands in under the pillow and found something with my hand. Pulling it out from underneath revealed my Selenite on the busted chain link. The last I'd seen it was before driving to the Pet Cemetery. I had put it in my pocket. It had probably fallen on the bed when Edward tore my pants off. I played with the little thing for a while with my head turned sideways on the pillow and thought about everything. The more time passed and the more I thought about Edward, the better I felt about where I was and what had happened between us.

It was fate. It had to be. Edward had saved my life and had stayed with me every night for three years after. I had no idea he would be at the bell tower, but still I had found it and found my way up to the top to see the Gargoyles. It was an innocent discovery and it led me straight to him. He was a part of my life and I didn't care who opposed it, or what the Legion rules stated. In my heart, it was right.

With those thoughts, I drifted off.

****

"I am here, Isabella," he whispered into my ear. I opened my eyes drowsily. I was still on my stomach with my face turned sideways on the pillow. The clasp of Selenite was also still in my hand. The room was dark except for the glow coming from the hearth and Edward's face hovered in my peripheral vision. I rolled onto my back with a leaping heart and found him leaning over me, naked. The light of the fire danced on his skin and gave the contours of the muscles in his shoulders greater depth. The shadows that crept out from beneath the lines on his chest and stomach drew my eyes in, and the smoldering, silvery gaze in his eyes triggered my pulse. He was breathtakingly beautiful.

"You are well rested," he smiled.

"I am," I nodded, hoping that it meant he would keep me up all night long. Something dark fell over his face then and he dropped his eyes to the space between us on the bed. When he didn't say anything for a while after, I got worried.

"Edward? What's wrong?"

"I used to be human," he said suddenly.

My heart sputtered and I had to push my upper body up on my elbows in order to center myself.

"What?"

"Two hundred years ago," he went on with a serious expression. The shadows that the light from the fire cast on his face made him look deviant and dark. "I was engaged to a woman named Tanya Denali and a student in University. I was 21 years old and I lived in Cornwall, England."

"My god," I whispered. "You weren't always like this?"

Our bodies were very close together. He leaned on his elbow on his side and I was on my two elbows behind me. His face was still higher than mine, but he had it bent low toward me so that we were almost nose to nose.

"No. Tanya was dying from Cholera and late one night I took her out in search of the town doctor, desperate to save her life by any means possible."

I wasn't even jealous to hear about his fiancé or about the love he had for her that drove him out into the night. The bare emotion in his eyes as he spoke wounded me and it was the only thing I could focus on. Thus far I had seen his power, his anger, his ferocity, his impatience and the way he could love. I hadn't seen his vulnerability however, and that right there, as he shed the truth about his existence to me, was his vulnerability.

"It was late and dark because electricity hadn't made it to those parts yet. We were accosted by a rapist en route. The man saw a helpless woman in my arms and tried to benefit from it. He'd have killed me and taken Tanya with him if someone hadn't stepped in and saved us both."

"But someone did…"

"Emmett."

I gasped and widened my eyes. "Gargoyle Emmett?"

"Yes. He took the man away, up into the sky and terrified me near to death. I hid from him with Tanya, clutching her to me, ready to do anything to save her from the creature. But when he came back, he came with the intention to help."

He started playing with the fingers on my right hand between us on the bed, still propped on his left elbow. I raised my fingers and interlaced them with his. The connection pulled him closer.

"I entered a pact with him that night. Tanya's life, for mine."

"What do you mean?"

"He agreed to save Tanya from the Cholera if I entered the seminary the very next day to become a priest."

"And you did."

"I loved her, yes."

"Why did Emmett want that?"

"Emmett is the warden of priests. Remember that first we are guardians, like angels bound to earth. So, some of us have duties that are directly related to the Church. He had a quota to fill back then in a time when there was a shortage of priests and he saw opportunity in me."

"What did Tanya do?"

"She grieved for me. She sent letters to me every week for four years and I answered to none. I didn't want to make it any harder for her by giving her hope. I made a pact with Emmett and I had feared that breeching that contract would kill her. A few days before my ordination I got a letter from her, begging me to visit her one last time. Her letter was emotional and it drove a wedge of guilt deep into my soul. Then there was also the fact that I hadn't stopped loving her. So, against my better judgment, I went to see her."

He paused then and raised his eyes above my head and stared into space.

"What happened next?" I encouraged him with a small squeeze from my fingers.

"We had sex."

I hadn't expected to hear that.

"But, you were…."

"I know. I was a seminarian. I was also weak and still in love with her. She was beautiful and we had saved ourselves for each other, but never got the opportunity to reap from our efforts because I left for the seminary. So, I broke my vows."

He dropped his head again. It was two hundred ago, but the remorse was still very present in his eyes.

"Afterward, I tried to leave and return to the seminary but she went berserk. She thought that sleeping with me would turn me away from the Church and make me want to stay with her. But she didn't know about Emmett. When I refused…..she…..forced a dagger through her heart."

"Edward!" I gasped and turned my face into his bare chest. He lowered his chin onto the top of my head. "That's awful! The poor girl!"

"I'm sorry," he said.

I raised my head then and looked into his drawn face, taut with self hatred and disappointment.

"Why are you apologizing to me for?" I asked, shaking my head. "You don't need to apologize to me Edward. I love you. I feel sorry for her, but I don't blame you. People make mistakes and you didn't know she would do that. You must have been so scared."

"I was a coward," he bit out. "I ran. I ran from her house. I ran from the seminary. I tried to flee the town on foot, the jack ass that I was, but Emmett followed me. He'd been watching me all those years, staying close. He wanted to make sure I delivered on my end of the bargain. When he realized that I had chickened out, he took me."

"Took you?"

"Took me, through the sky and revealed himself to me for the second time. I didn't yet know that he was a Gargoyle, but I knew he was something supernatural. Alice showed up too and tried to caution him for taking me. And then they both took me to Aro."

"Who's Aro?"

"The head of the Legion."

"Oh."

"My sentence was cast upon me that night. I had to pay for the trouble I had caused by breeching my contract and I had to pay for my new found knowledge about their existence. He was going to kill me, but Emmett begged my pardon on the premise that I had the potential to become one of them. God alone knew what he saw in me, and to this day I'm sure he's still kicking himself in the ass for it. Aro gave me the option of death or the Legion. I chose death but then Carlisle stepped forward and coerced me into choosing the Legion instead. My sentence was two hundred years as a Gargoyle and I had the choice of how my sentence would end; death or human life afterward."

It hit me like an unexpected bullet. My eyes filled up and spilled over before I even had the chance to try and hold them back.

"Wait," I frowned at him. "You had a choice of how to end your sentence?"

"Yes," he sighed, cautiously.

"You chose death," I whispered as the revelation sunk into me like painful glass splinters. I pushed myself up on my palms until I was sitting upright, finding it difficult to breathe through my sudden sobbing.

"It was you!" I shuddered in disbelief as he came face to face with me on the bed and held me by my shoulders. "You cast this on yourself?!" I cried out.

The welt of pain was crippling. There was a possibility of him living on after this, and he had chosen the other way out.

"Why?!" I cried into his face. He grabbed my face in his hands and shifted his tormented eyes between mine.

"I didn't know I would find you," he choked out. "Back then I was so disillusioned and trapped in my own unfortunate circumstances that I hadn't even considered the possibility of life far less for love. To me…becoming a Gargoyle was just a different form of death, being torn from my human life, from life as I knew it. I figured that by the end of two hundred years I'd be exhausted and tired and in need of peace. I thought that my mistakes with Tanya would have possessed me for two centuries, to the point where I'd be diving at the nearest exit at the end. I wanted to die, yes."

I couldn't even answer him I was crying so much. His features were pained and his eyes were heavy with emotion, glassed over and shining behind their silver films. He even looked like he panicked a bit when he saw the way I reacted to it.

"You chose this!"

"Bella, had I the slightest notion that I'd find you, find love again, or thought myself deserving of it after Tanya, I would have chosen differently."

"Is there no way out of it?" I sobbed as he held my face in place. He pressed his forehead to mine then and shook his head mournfully.

"No, there isn't. It's done. You can't change what is set in stone."

"I don't believe it," I bit out angrily, my chin quivering violently. "I won't. If there's an option we will find it and fight it! I have to be with you Edward! I love you too much! I won't be able to lose you!"

"You have to! This is the way it is."

"_No_!"

"Bella…"

"No, damn it! _NO_!"

He crushed my lips then, under the steely weight of his and stole every ounce of air from my lungs. I kissed him through my tears but feeling the passion between us made me cry harder. It was impossible not to hurt from every shred of love and affection between us, knowing that our time was running out even as we kissed.

"Edward…." I sobbed against his mouth as my shoulder heaved. The pain literally tore through my chest and left a physical sensation.

"Bella, please don't break me like this," he begged, moving his hand to clutch the back of my head. "I've waited all day for you. I won't allow my poison to get in the way of what we can be right now. We have each other now, this minute, today, and you said you didn't want to waste it. I want you now."

I surrendered with an agonized nod by raising my arms above my head so that he could undress me. Without even needing a second to figure it out, he started undressing me. Five seconds later I was naked against him and sitting in his lap with my legs wrapped firmly around his waist.

His hands were ravenous. They scoured my back and intermittently grabbed at my hips, rocking me against his sturdy erection. I marveled at the fact that he had pubic hair, thinking that something made predominantly of stone would be without hair. I preferred him this way, because it likened him more to a human and it wasn't overwhelming in the least. It was just enough to identify the most masculine part of him that demanded respect; not too much or too scanty. And it was soft.

His chest was hairless which I loved and his arms and legs bore only slight tresses that were barely visible at night. Beauty was not an adequate enough word for Edward. He was perfection. He was immaculate.

The feel of his harsh exterior against the most sensitive part of my body didn't put me off either. It should have perturbed or intimidated me, but there was something erotic and potent about his unyielding surface that fueled my yearning. And it was one of the things that convinced me that we belonged together.

By nature, I should have been put off by his peculiarities. Normal girls weren't built to endure the deviant nature of his abilities, nor were they supposed to be so tolerant of it. Innate, human and self preservation instincts should have kept me away from him a long time before. But ever since day one, I was drawn to Edward in a way that surpassed all human understanding, including mine. I had no desire to understand it anyway. I accepted and even thrived on it. And by that point it was clear that I was ready to do just about anything to have him.

We gasped into each other's mouths in hurried pants, changing and interchanging the position of our heads to allow the other deeper access. His body molded to mine beautifully and I fit perfectly in the clasp of his protective arms. His tongue was already warmed in my mouth and the rest of him was in close pursuit, borrowing off my body heat, lending to the atmosphere of perfect love between us.

"Bella," he uttered in a harsh whisper, clinging to me by wrapping his arms around my back.

"Yes…"

"I love you so much."

"I love you too Edward," I responded and the verbal proclamation urged him on. Rocking on his lap lined us up so that my clitoris was rubbing against his length. That back and forth grinding, helped by my slippery moistness raised every hair on my body. I threw my head back and exhaled through parted lips. He slid his tongue up the length of my neck then, over my chin and pulled my bottom lip in between his teeth.

I groaned out in ecstasy and pressed my chest into him harder, knowing that I would be sore again by the morning, but knowing too that he would heal me afterward.

I sucked on his top lip as he devoured my bottom lip, and then we interchanged. He branded me again with his touch on my hips and ass, holding me tightly as he guided my slippery movements along his erection. I went faster on him and the friction seemed to excite. The gray in his eyes darkened and his face continued to glow with the fire in the hearth.

The faster rhythm intensified the contact with my clit and I started gasping through clenched teeth. My response made him tighten his fingers around my butt cheeks and when I threw my body back in reaction to the pleasure, he did the sexiest thing. He sucked on his thumb and index then put his hand down between us and rubbed his fingers over me. My hips bucked.

He started slow, but on seeing my rapt response to his touch and the way my eyes rolled into the back of my head, he quickened his fingers, making me suck in a harsh breath of air. The pressure on my clit was amazing and it got better when he slid his middle finger inside of me and started thrusting. The combined sensations of his fingers in _and_ on me sent me into instant hysterics. I was rocking on him, bucking my hips, arching my back, thrashing my head and grunting in a series of short, breathy, sex calls.

He took his fingers out and sucked on them again and the wink he sent me as he did it made my toes curl behind him. He lifted me off of his lap then and threw me back onto the bed. The jolt made the mattress bounce slightly and from the corner of my eye I saw the Selenite on the chain toss into the air. He caught it before it landed on the bed again and with a simple flick of his wrist, tossed it.

"You won't need that tonight, little lady," he whispered, taking me under my knees and opening my legs for his entrance. He lowered his chest between my thighs, slid one arm underneath me to spread a palm against my back and took the waiting peak of one of my breasts into his mouth. I arched my back instinctively toward him and let out a sharp breath of air, taking his hair in my hands. His bronze locks spilled over the top of his head and grazed parts of my chest.

After massaging and suckling on me, he moved onto the next one and took the first nipple between his fingertips. I pushed my wet spot upward and grazed myself against his chest roughly. My movements beneath him were not subtle. They were very direct and demanding. I wanted him down there and I wanted it fast.

With his tongue, he scorched a path from my chest to my inner thigh, inciting little animal cries from my lips. The anticipation of his mouth on my core threatened to shatter me. He was especially terrorizing with the way he teased by kissing and sucking every spot on my inner thighs except the swollen and dripping sex pot in the middle.

"Edward!" I cried out impatiently, rolling my hips underneath his head. I swore I felt his lips smile on me and just when I opened my eyes to look down at him impatiently he dipped his tongue on my moist opening and dragged his tongue from there, up to the tip.

"Shit!" I hissed, tightening my fists in his hair. He wedged his palms at the backs of my thighs and pushed my legs up, raising my center higher up toward him.

The scream I let out shocked even me, but it was soon forgotten under the spell of my wetted, clit massage. It wasn't hard to drive me over the edge because I'd been rubbing myself against him since we started. He felt when I hardened in his mouth and he drove two fingers into me. I screamed out again and after that my gasping was nothing but short spasms of incoherencies. His fingers slammed in and out of me with heightened pace and slippery ease while his mouth sucked down on me, making me stiffen in blinding, white pleasure. He went faster and sucked down harder and in the next second I was writhing and screaming in orgasm.

It was as loud as it was it long. My legs trembled around his face and my back arched with my head thrown back.

I rode it out with his fingers still inside, twisting and hooking and just making damned sure that I got every last jolt out of it. When my body fell back and slacked, he removed his fingers and sucked them clean.

I tugged at his hair greedily and pulled him up to my face where I could help him devour the rest by eating his lips off.

"You're way too sexy for my own good," I mumbled in the middle of our kiss.

"Mmmm," he smiled. "Your taste is addicting."

He sprang back then and sat between my legs with a hand held out to me. I took it without hesitation and crawled on top of him like we were at the beginning.

"I rather liked this position," he said into my ear as he centered me on him with gentle hands. I ran my hands down his hard stomach and found his wounds on his right side. I covered it with my palm and kissed his neck, wrapping my other arm around his torso.

"Give me the wall," I said.

"I'll give you whatever you want," he answered throatily.

"I want the wall."

He lifted me slightly then and lined us up. I tried to relax my limbs as I lowered myself onto his tip, but the shock of his size and hardness snagged my breath immediately. I had to reposition my both arms around his neck and bury my face there, clinging to him for dear mercy.

He cradled me with his arms, one going up to the back of my head and the other around my waist. It was overwhelming enough the night before when I felt him enter me while on my back. Sitting on top of him made it harder. I felt every. single. thing. I felt as he fought with my inner muscles for dominance. I felt my walls retaliate. I felt the muscles tighten but lose the fight to his strength and I felt the down pour of my sex juice as my body worked to get him inside.

"Good girl," he whispered, rocking his hips gently as he felt my warm moisture coat him. I bit down onto my lip hard as he pushed himself deeper inside. When my lips couldn't take the force of my teeth anymore, I bit into his neck instead.

He angled his head back when I did that and hissed in approval.

His neck didn't relent under my teeth and it was just as well because I needed something unyielding to absorb the force of the pain between my legs. He pushed in again. It hurt like fuck, and appropriately so. I squealed as I tried to bite him and shut my eyes tightly, seeing the white light of pain behind my lids. Nothing would stop me though. I would take the pain and anything else just to have him like that. The pain somehow made it more meaningful, because getting through it to the pleasure felt like rising to a heightened level with him.

"Are you ok?" He breathed into my hair. I tried to nod.

"Mmm hmmm!"

"Bella, baby," he whispered. "Do you need me to stop."

I spat his neck out. "No fucking way…."

"Shut up," he laughed, squeezing me fractionally tighter to him. The distraction gave him a little more leeway and he ended up deeper inside. He lowered his arms around my waist to my hips and started to guide my hips back and forth again.

I returned to his neck and moved with his guidance, clinging to his body with both my arms and legs. The rocking hurt too, but it got him properly inside and once he was there, he held my hips and braced me.

"I'm going to do it now."

"Ok," I gasped and brought myself face to face with him.

He pressed our foreheads together and pressed his lips to mine. I felt the first of the coldness burst through and spread on my insides. My breath hitched and I bucked slightly.

"It's cold," I whispered.

He responded by kissing me. "Don't move," he broke to say.

I pressed my mouth on his again and waited for the coldness to melt away. It moved from the top, down the sides, to the front and toward my back, coating my womb completely. I felt the texture of it start to change and the crackling sensation tickled.

I groaned.

"Ride it out baby," he whispered with a smile. "That's me inside of you."

"I love you inside of me," I answered. The tickling stopped and the coldness vanished and though I could still feel something alien inside of me, I knew that what was still to come would alleviate all else and near cripple me in sexual upheaval.

"I'm ready," I said.

I rode him like a shameless jockey, opening my legs wider and pushing my chest up to his face. He braced my bending back with his hand and held my weight there effortlessly. While I pumped myself on his bulging, rock hard erection, he bent over and sucked one of my rigid nipples into his mouth.

It wasn't long before I was thrusting, panting, crying out, gushing with sweat and thrashing my head behind me. Something about the way he sucked my breast while he drove himself inside at an impossible speed sent me wild. I'd always had a fetish with my nipples being squeezed, but they had to be squeezed while I was being eaten out or while I was filled to capacity. The double impact of the two sensations at once licked my fire and always made me scream like a hyena.

After he'd paid homage to both breasts, he kissed his way up to my neck and settled there for a while. We maintained that pace for a while, grinding on each other with slapping, sweaty sounds. Soon enough, I didn't feel any pain. His natural hardness exaggerated the sensational pleasure and made my body respond in whet appreciation. I was positively pouring out of myself on top of him and the sound of my arousal made me even crazier in delight.

He took my right knee in hand and raised my leg slowly. I tightened my hold around his neck as he raised my leg and angled his torso forward, pushing me back slightly. He got my right leg on top of his shoulder and I was shocked to feel the way that opened me up and made him fit better. He held on to that leg by my thigh and kept it in place. He then moved his body up on his knees and anchored my butt on the bed so that my other leg hooked around him between his ass cheeks and calves.

"Hold on tight," he said, breathing heavily into my face.

"I'm not letting go."

He licked the back of his thumb on his free hand and proceeded to make contact with my exposed clit.

"YAH!" I screamed out in excitement. He dipped down lower right where he was pumping in and out of me roughly, got some of my moisture on his thumb and went back to my clit. I felt my face go red with heat.

Every part of me was suddenly on fire. My right leg was on his shoulder. My left leg was wrapped around his butt. He was on his knees with his legs apart. His thumb was rubbing against my hard, slippery clit and he was pushing his penis in and out of me hard and fast.

My head hung back and my eyes were tightly closed. I couldn't do anything but scream, cling and shove my hips into him as hard as I could manage, given our position. My back wasn't on the bed. I held myself up by holding him around his neck.

"I'm going to do this to you all night Isabella," he hissed at me.

"YES!" I screamed.

"Hours…."

"YES!"

"I'm going to make you scream until your throat goes sore."

"FUCK!"

"And I'm going to make you cum all over me."

"EDWARD!"

"And then I'm going to turn you around…." He shoved himself in hard and I squealed. "And do it to do from behind."

"_Fuck _yes!" I cried out.

"And I'm going to love you afterward by healing every sore spot and sexy curve on this body."

"YES!"

"Your body."

"Pleeeease!!"

"_My_ body," he whispered. "Because your body is mine."

"It's yours! I'm yours! _UH_! Uh! Uh! UARGH!"

The pace was too fast for me to keep up with. I had resorted to tensing myself in place so that he could thrust himself in and out. The sounds of our fluids slapping together made me flush more and I felt myself reaching my climax.

The faster he went, the better he felt in me and the louder I screamed. I felt my leg on his shoulder start to tremble. He felt it too and he tightened his hold on me. His thumb on my clit hadn't stopped. The slippery, intense rubbing reddened it and made it stiff in contorted pleasure. His brow was drawn in the center and his jaw was firmly clenched. His thrusting was driving me crazy. It was faster than ever. He was getting rougher. My screams were distorted. My face was burning hot. I knew I was flushed red. My body was dripping with sweat. My core was dripping all around his trusting. Still, he went faster and I thought I would choke on my screams. It felt incredible. My clit was bobbing and budging under his rubbing finger, slippery wet and screaming with a voice of its own.

When he pinched it, my head sailed back and eyes shot open in my orgasm. It was so intense that it outlived my scream. My entire body seized and buckled in place and two heavy thrusts later, he was crying out too and shoving himself deeper inside of me so that he could ride out his own orgasm.

We stuck together like that for a while through it, clinging and panting and sucking at the air for oxygen. When it was over, he eased my leg down and pulled me up toward him to hold me in a passionate hug. I shuddered heavily in his arms. For a while I couldn't do anything but cling to him. I couldn't talk. I couldn't move. I could barely breathe. I felt his hand at the back of my head and I felt his chest move against mine as he breathed. The union was simple, raw and complete.

He did what he had to do afterward by removing his wall with his fingers and ensured I was cleaned out with his mouth.

We then relocated to the thick rug on the floor by the warm fireplace and cuddled. He fed me fruit and bread and we talked. He answered more of my questions and more often than not his answers terrified me, lead right back to his sentence and made me cry again. And every time I cried, both from the impassioned emotion of our love making and from the hurt of losing him, he became overwhelmed with emotion and made love to me again.

It was beautiful and it was tragic and it left me exhausted. He certainly kept his word when he promised to fill my nights with passion so that my days would be filled only with sleep.

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**A/N: Not that anyone cares about this part of the chapter after _THAT _session….yikes! But in the pictures of Edward on my profile, you can see the three scars on his right side.**

**Story recs: Revelry by teambella23 – Crazy wonderful.**

**Master of Disaster by Tropical Sorbet**

**Through His Eyes by its-rpattz-baby**

**These authors deserve your attention. They are exceptional!**

**So I hope you enjoyed my chapter and I hope you think their love making is as essential and as beautiful as it is graphic.**

**Leave me reviews you guys. I work hard for it!!**

**Reviews are better than Stoneward creeping in through your bedroom window while u sleep!**

**Lots of love, Psyche.**


	12. Chapter 11 Oui

A/N: Sooo, I'm sorry? This update took forever! Sorry, I'm not usually this late with updates, but I had a rough week and a half….two weeks? How long has it been? _Gggrrrrrr_.

**Anyway, good news! SET IN STONE IS UP FOR AN INDIE TWIFIC AWARD! The category is Best AU story that knocks you off your feet. Please vote! I'll love you forever! Go over to the site to see when voting starts and push me forward please. We little people need a little encouragement every now and again.**

That said, I hope you love this chap and I hope the wait was well worth it. Love you all.

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**Chapter 11**

"**Oui" **

**Bella**

Two weeks passed. Two weeks of sexy nights, painful mornings, physical repair, endless confessions, held back tears and sleepy days, was all it took to damage me. The fracture in my soul was irreparable. My bordering obsession with my dying Gargoyle had torn me too deep for it to be fixable. I was ruined, and not just for men, for mankind. In those two weeks I had learned enough about Edward and his paranormal world to feel more attached to his kind than my own. The more time spent with him in our fabricated fantasy, the closer we got and the more detached I became from my own world.

Only once did the maids come in to check on the room. Edward heard them plan the date while monitoring the castle during the day. He had cleared everything away the night before and kept me with him in the tower so that when they came in I wouldn't be found. Luckily, that went off without a hitch and we were able to return to our routine that same night.

Time flew. Our nights got shorter and the days came quicker. He tried to distract me with his stories and impassioned love making. And much as I sunk myself into every second that he was awake, nothing made me forget what was coming. In fact, the better things got with him, the worse it got for me. A physical ache had developed in my chest, one that not even his healing touch could repair. Every time I opened my eyes I felt it and it didn't matter how many times I repositioned my body, twisted myself or how many deep breaths I took. Nothing drove it away. It felt like a painful tumor growing from inside a bleeding welt.

The loss of him was attacking me before it even happened. More than once, I saw him notice my physical discomfort with his silvery gay intuition, and he didn't have to say anything for me to know why he kept touching the center of my chest. Sadly, the electric zap that he emitted from his hand to my heart did nothing to soothe it. Each time he asked me with his eyes afterward if he had helped and each time I had to shake my head honestly and move his hand away.

"I guess you can't heal a broken heart," I said to him one night, turning his palm upward in my hand to inspect it. "I'm sorry, but it still hurts."

He was deeply affected by what was happening between us. The torture was blatant in his stare. I tried to show him strength by smiling and talking about everything other than our looming deadline, hating to see him suffer under the burden we created for ourselves. We tried to avoid it and despite all our efforts at making the best of a tragic situation, everything came pouring out of us whenever we made love. That's when we knew just how hurt and afraid we were. Those were the times we dropped the brave façade and let it all pour out of us. Impossible it was, to believe that something so perfect was damned, that two hearts could love so completely….for nothing. Life after his death would be an anomaly, I knew. It would be painful and abnormal because nothing about me made sense without him. I was as good as dead too.

Our love making got desperate and sometimes he lost control. The night that marked our two weeks together, he broke one of my ribs by mistake. I screamed out in tearful agony, buckled in the most wretched kind of pain I'd ever known. He healed me immediately but refused to touch me for the rest of the night after that.

"You can't mean that," I complained from on the plush rug by the fireplace. He was standing by the window with his naked back to me, staring out through the glass pane.

"Edward, are you serious? You're really not to touch me? For how long?"

"Until I can gather myself and find my control again. You're driving me crazy, Bella. I can't control myself with you anymore, not when I'm in this state. I could kill you, do you know that?"

"But I'm fine now," I pleaded, pathetically. "I don't get your problem. You fixed me. It's like it never happened. So I got hurt, I don't care. Just keep fixing me!"

The fact that I was begging him to come back to the rug so that we could continue having sex was terribly unlike me. A few weeks prior I wouldn't have been caught dead begging for sex, complaining and pouting like an angry child over it. But nothing that happened since then was characteristic of my life anyway, least of all the naked Gargoyle standing before me.

Everything was different, including me.

He bent his head to the side so that I could see his profile but his hair fell forward and blocked my view.

"It's not right. You aren't a physical thing at my disposal. You are the woman I love and being careless with you just because I can heal you is advantageous and wrong."

I folded my arms over my bare chest and turned to the fire, on the brink of angry tears.

"You're being cruel."

"What?"

"You're being cruel!" I repeated. "You know how important this is to me. I will never get these lost hours again. This is all I will have once you are gone, Edward; these memories of us together. I can barely stand to hold you knowing it's almost over, but _not_ being to hold you while I still can, is torture. You know that and because of a stupid fucking broken rib you're staying away from me, even though you've fixed it."

I didn't hear him come up behind me. He was light and swift on his feet. I felt his breath on my shoulder suddenly but instead of jumping in alarm, by body relaxed.

"Do you think I enjoyed hearing you scream like that, Isabella? Or seeing that twisted look of pain on your face? Do you think the snapping sound of your bone on account of my slamming into you was easy?"

I swallowed and blinked back my tears, suddenly embarrassed.

"No," I whispered.

"Then give me a while to readjust myself accordingly and stop the fucking whining."

I widened my eyes in shock and stared into the fire, dumbfound for a second or two. I'd never heard him curse before.

"This is just as important to me as it is to you," he went on, his cold breath tingling the skin on my neck and shoulder. "But it is also important that I take care of you and I will not exploit my gift by hurting you."

"You hurt me more by refusing to touch me," I answered stubbornly.

He touched me then. His cool hands held my shoulders then grazed down my arms like two stone plates, only gently.

I loved the way he felt. And my body was like a conductor, sparking on contact with the energy he plugged into me with his hands. My eye balls rolled back into my head and I sighed. No touch would ever feel like his. Nobody would ever be able to compare to him, ever.

"Ok," I said, dropping my head back against him. "But stay here with me, ok? I hate when you're far away."

He settled down on the rug next to me, holding me snuggly against his side and presented an unexpected surprise. With his free hand he slid a large, leather bound book out from under the coffee table and winked at me knowingly. My heart skipped when I realized what it was. It was his journal. He was about to start writing his life to me like I had asked.

I lay next to him quietly as he wrote, my head nestled in the crook of his shoulder, amazed at the speed of his wrist. I still didn't know how or where he got all the stuff he brought to our castle abode, but he ensured me that he attained everything honestly and so I didn't probe.

Being mysterious was second nature to Edward. He had spent his two centuries bound by secrets and rigorous structure. So it was understandable that he was accustomed to operating in a certain way and didn't feel the need to explain himself. I didn't mind. As long as he shared the important things with me, I was happy.

Numerous times as he wrote, I tried peeking into the journal but he wouldn't let me see. He kept raising the hand of his arm around me and turning my face away playfully.

"Not until it's done," he said, with a smirk.

"How long will it take?" I asked, staring at his lightning pace. His hand moved in a soundless blur across the pages. My excitement was unbridled. It was impossible to not giggle and gasp and widen my eyes every time he whipped over a new page.

"Mmmm, two decades a night, ten nights."

"Fuck, you're fast….sorry."

He chuckled and bent his face down to mine and kissed my forehead.

"Bella, if you want to say fuck….just say it. If you don't want to, don't. But saying you're sorry every time you curse is…."

"Is what?" I arched an eyebrow.

"Cute, actually," he said, shaking his head with a sexy, slanted smile. "Do whatever you want, delicae. I love you."

He went back to his writing then and I alternated between staring at his whirring hand to the concentrated expression on his face. Many times, I had to gulp at the encroaching lump in my throat as I stared at him. He looked peaceful as he wrote. My need for him was insatiable. It was eating me alive. But my thrill in his presence was always dampened by my sadness and I often rocked between giddiness and rock bottom depression. The changes in my moods became unpredictable and fast, turning me into a chronic schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder.

One minute I was laughing and the next I was sobbing to self exhaustion; furious then blushing; adamant about something, then giving in a split second later out of sheer curiosity. My moods were volatile and intense. They became overlapped and though different, they were the same. I was out of control, yet still, controlled by him.

"And how long will two decades take each night?" I asked, dropping heavy lidded eyes to his moving hand again.

"Fifteen minutes."

"That's incredible."

"Well I won't be writing _everything_, Bella. Only what is noteworthy." He looked at me then. "Why do you want this anyway?"

"I'm sentimental," I answered. "Which reminds me…." I sat up and folded my legs Indian style, turning to face him. Being so comfortable around him, I forgot that I was still naked. His eyes dropped momentarily to my bared crotch and I felt the pulse there flicker under his gaze. I even quivered.

He raised his smoldering gaze to mine again and one corner of his mouth turned up slightly. I blushed and for a moment, forgot what I was about to say.

"What did you remember?" He asked, amused at how easily seduced I was.

"Ummm…" I swallowed. "Yeah, since we're doing bucket list things I was wondering…if…well, _when_ could we go out to dinner?"

He dropped the pen in the center crease of the journal and closed his eyes.

"Isabella…."

"Please don't say no," I interjected, shooting my hands out to him slightly. "Please?"

He opened his eyes and gave me a pained look.

"You don't know what you're asking me."

"What's the worst that could happen? We'll go into a restaurant and sit. A waiter will ask our order, I'm sure you can speak French. We'll order. I'll eat. Then we'll leave."

"I'm not used to mingling among humans for extended periods of time. People notice me and they stare."

"Well they can't help it. You're beautiful. Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No, it makes _them_ uncomfortable. You weren't initially drawn to me by chance, Bella. We are naturally seducing and engaging creatures. It's what makes it easy for us to help humans when we have to. They let us near because they are entranced. But they are almost always undecided about whether or not to trust their instincts and they become agitated. While they may not feel threatened, they know not to trust."

"I trusted you."

"Not at first you didn't. You were terrified of me."

"Well, you broke into my house!"

"I'm talking about the first night….at your place of work. You were nervous. I both saw and felt it."

"Oh. So….what does that have to do with our dinner date?"

"I'm not supposed to draw attention to myself. I prefer not to in any case."

I ran my eyes up and down his sculpture then, from his head to the tips of his toes, lingering on some areas longer than others.

"Then, Edward," I said with a cocky smile. "If you don't want to draw attention to your self, do something about your appearance."

He frowned indelibly and waited for me to continue.

"It's no wonder people stare at you. You look like a mythical, dangerous, gothic character out of the pages of a comic book."

He relaxed his frown and with a small shake of his head, returned to his writing.

"Seriously!" I laughed. "Your hair is the rarest color I've ever seen. It's sexy and I love it baby, but it's so long! Nobody wears their hair that long anymore. And your clothes. I'm sure that if you wore a regular sweater and jacket that you'll fit in better. That black cloak makes you look like…..have you ever seen that show Highlander?"

He actually laughed and dropped the pen again.

"I beg to differ."

"Ok well, maybe I'm over exaggerating a little," I said with a shrug and a roll of my eyes. "You're way better looking than Highlander but everything about you screams IMMORTAL!"

Immediately after I said the word, I almost choked. A shadow crept over my face then and I let myself fall sideways against his held out arm to me. He pushed the journal away then and took me in his arms, allowing me to bury my face in his chest until my wave of depression passed away. We held on to each other silently like that for a while and he stroked my back and head.

I had learned to swallow my tears before they made it my eyes. Crying all the time became annoying and feeling drained afterward, sucked. I forced the lump in my throat into remission and inhaled the air against his hairless chest, hoping for the strength to make it through the next few minutes in one piece.

"You know what?" He whispered, his lips pressed to the side of my face. "I'll go to dinner with you."

I raised my head and smiled, feeling better already. He put his index under my chin and raised my face some more.

"It would be my honor," he said.

"You're such a gentleman," I giggled, scrunching my nose at him.

"Not when I broke your rib I wasn't."

I rolled my eyes.

"Get over it," I said. "Break a few more for all I care, just don't stop having sex with me. So, can we go tomorrow night?"

"Whatever you want."

"Where?"

"I will think of something."

"How?"

"What do you mean, how?"

"How are we going? Are you going to take me through the castle doors? Out through the window? In a car? On foot….."

"Through the window, then through the air."

I laughed.

"How romantic," I said teasingly. "Usually the guy meets you by the front door and drives you somewhere."

"Well, I'm not a guy. I am a Gargoyle and I've never driven a car in my life."

I squared off with him and gawked with my jaw dropped. "But, you're two hundred years old!"

"Older, in fact, if you count my human years," he quirked. "Bella, in the 1800's we rode horses or carriages or travelled on foot, and since being changed I've had wings. When I don't fly, I walk. Why would I have needed a car?"

"Well, I know, but…..you've seriously NEVER driven a car? Not even tried for fun? _In two hundred years_?"

"Fun?" He said it flippantly, as if just the mere thought of the word was ridiculous. "I don't know how else you want me to answer you."

I darted my eyes around the room and shook my head, saddened by how rigid and serious his life had been. "Ok….well…through the sky then. Is it ok if I wear the pants you got me and my one top and jacket? They're clean…I've been naked the entire time I've been here."

"Of course you can wear it, but if you want something else, just tell me and I will get it."

"I don't care what I wear really…what I have will do. I just want to do this with you."

"OK."

"But…"

He raised one eyebrow and peered at me cautiously as if to say, _"What now?"_

"I'd like to help you fit in better."

"I'm not following you."

"You know…your image. You said you stand out and people stare. So, I could help fix that."

"You can't fix that. It's how it's supposed to be."

"Yes, but still. I want to you to be comfortable."

"What do you have in mind, Bella?" He was suspicious, his eyebrows knitted in that dark, brooding frown of his.

"Would you hate leaving your cloak behind? And wearing a shirt without holes in the back?"

He stared at me, taken aback, for a few seconds and I had to shrug and offer him a smile to get him to react.

"Then how will I fly? Inevitably, the shirt will be torn."

"Right. I forgot that."

"Before I say yes to any of this, what else are you planning for me? I have a feeling it doesn't end there."

I clasped my hands together in my lap and grinned mischievously.

"Do you trust me?"

"Bella…" He actually laughed. "Out with it."

"Could you find me a pair of scissors somewhere in the castle?"

He stared at me again for a long while, silently, suspiciously, shifting his eyes searchingly between mine.

"I'm sure I caaaaan," he answered, folding his arms across his chest. "You're kidding me, of course."

I smiled wider.

"You want to cut my hair," he stated plainly, without as much as a smile on his face.

"May I?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"How short are you thinking? You're crazy, you know that?"

"I won't overdo it. I promise. I'll just bring it up to your ears so that you can push it back over the top of your head. It'll still be long…and just as messy. Why do you want to hold on to it anyway? It's not like you'll need it when…." My voice trailed off.

"Stop," he said, unfolding his arms to put his finger on my lips. "You keep upsetting yourself."

He leaned over and pulled me between his legs, which he wrapped around me on the floor. His body wasn't very cold since we were sitting next to the large fireplace for a while but he was still by no means, warm.

"Do with me what you must, Isabella. Just please….be happy."

I almost scoffed. "Easier said than done."

A few minutes of holding on to each other in tender silence was enough to stoke our passion again. This time however, we were gentler with each other. He put me to lie on the rug while kissing me, never moving his mouth off mine. Once I was on my back, he passed his fingers through my hair, down my chest, stomach and along my hips; drawing on my body. His fingers were reverent and adoring. He touched every part of me with slow emphasis, his tongue twisting with mine inside of our mouths.

My every hair stood and I felt my body follow his fingers, moving and writhing in erotic subtlety. He kissed my top lip, then each of my eyelids, my chin, my neck, the valley between my breasts and down the line in the center of my stomach. I arched into his face and rocked my head back, holding on to his spilling hair as he made his way slowly down to my spurting core.

I sucked sharply at the air when he kissed my clit then belted out a cry when I felt him insert his tongue inside of me.

The erotic sensation was overpowering. When we meshed together like that, everything else in the universe faded. Our problems, our fight, our despair, our anger, our rivals, my overturned life back in Seattle…nothing reached us. He held my legs wide by my thighs and continued to work me with his tongue. It was firm and wet. And it drove me mad.

"Oh my sweet goodness," I gasped. "Edward…"

I was so sensitive to him that it didn't take long anymore to get me to the point of utopia. My fists were clenched tightly at his roots and I pulled his face against me as hard as I could. When he felt my muscles begin to tighten he dragged his tongue upward, like a cat licking his mate, and snagged my clit between his lips.

I crooned, and clenched tighter. The instant he sucked on me, I came. It was too good. I couldn't control it. My body was on fire and his touch was magically arousing. I was accustomed to wild and raw with him, but his tenderness had a sweet, spell binding quality. It consumed me immediately.

After releasing myself on him, I went languid on the rug, my heart so swollen inside of my chest that it felt distorted and heavy. The physical discomfort made me twist on my side. He saw it and grabbed me up off the floor. Again, he pressed his palm to my chest to soothe the ache and because I didn't have the courage to disappoint him again, I tried lying.

"Thank you," I said, with a forced smile. "It's starting to work."

He raised my face with his chin and shook his head. "Liar."

"Forget about it," I said. "Lay down."

He let me push him against the rug and once he was on his back I crawled between his legs. His erection was intimidating to say the least. It was thick and long and harder than any woman should have been able to contain. Thank goodness for his healing hands. I'd have been maimed by then if it weren't for that.

I lay down on my stomach between his legs with my feet up in the air behind me, clasped at my ankles. In that position I sent him a wink then took the head of his erection into my mouth. I could barely take the head alone without reacting to his size. He filled me completely. His size was challenging but I compensated for my lack of oral depth by sucking hard on him. I heard him moan deeply. I pumped his length with one hand under my lips and used the muscles I didn't even know I had in my jaw to suck on him. I moved up and down and created friction with my tongue on the underside. I remembered Eric hating when I used my teeth, but Edward purred like a jungle cat when I did it to him. He felt like a cool, wide, slippery steel pipe in my mouth. And it was every bit as arousing as I hoped it would be.

Just the thought of doing something pleasurable to him made me burn inside. He buried his fingers in my hair and guided my head. I felt him holding back though. His fingers would tighten around my scalp then release over and over, until he couldn't take it anymore and had to grab onto the rug at his sides. One snatch and he had pieces of the rug torn off in his hands already. But still, he clutched.

"Fuuuuck," he hissed between his teeth, shocking me again. It was awfully sexy. I went down harder on him, increasing the pace of my hand pumping as well.

"Stop," he gasped, not long after.

"Mmm??!"

"Stop…stop….stop! _Move_!" He grunted harshly, baring his teeth with his eyes tightly closed. I literally felt him shooting up through his shaft under my tongue and his pulse was throbbing madly in my mouth. I moved away and to the side and just for safe measure he grabbed me by my upper arm and dragged me up alongside him.

He came with a loud, sexy cry. He even looked slightly flushed, though that could have been wishful thinking on my part. I almost had to run for cover. His semen shot out in harsh torrents, straight up to the high ceiling.

"Oh shit!" I squealed when it busted the plaster in the ceiling. Pieces of the roof started falling to the floor by his shins and feet. "Edward!"

I had to pull my knees up so that I'd be in the clear. He could barely focus on the damage he was causing in the roof then. His eyes were still closed, still riding out his orgasm, clenched and shuddering on the floor. With my hands over my mouth I gaped at the five holes in the ceiling, unbelievingly. He didn't just erupt in one squirt. There were at least five, one after the other; all aimed in the same general direction.

"Ahhhh." He exhaled softly. I shifted my eyes down to him then, my hands still over my mouth. His chest contracted and fell and then he relaxed.

"You weren't fucking kidding," I gasped, wide eyed. "That's some deadly shit you have in there."

"Mm hmm," he acknowledged smilingly. He looked at the damage in the ceiling for the first time then and sighed.

"I'm gonna have to fix that."

I fell against him in hysterical laughter.

"What the hell's in it?!"

"Something close to cement."

"Wha?!"

"I'm part stone, Bella. What did you expect?"

"Fuck! Sorry."

He rolled his eyes and sat up. "It's not what it's made of that causes the impact. Obviously it's the force at which it explodes from me. I told you."

"Sperment."

"What?"

"From now on, that's what that shit is called. _That's_ not sperm…" I looked up at the ceiling again. Trails of dust were still sauntering down to the floor. "Sperment."

****

The night after, he was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed and his forearms resting lazily on the arm rests. I stood behind him with the pair of scissors in my hand and a comb between my teeth, about to start chopping at his celestial, bronze locks.

For a while I stood there with the pair of scissors hovered over his head, both nervous and excited about what I was about to do.

"What are you waiting for?" Edward asked, as poised as a jungle cat.

"Nussing," I answered, with the comb between my teeth. It made me sound tongue tied. I took the comb out of my mouth then and passed it through his hair. For someone so hard on the outside, he certainly had soft hair.

"Do you wash your hair?"

"No, Bella….why?"

"It's so soft….how come?"

"I don't know. It just is."

"Ok."

I passed the comb through again and when I got half way down its length I stopped, closed my eyes and snipped across that spot. The crisp sound of his hair being cut raised my pores slightly. I opened my eyes and looked.

"Well….definitely no turning back now," I said, and cut another piece. His hair fell in the space between his back and the chair and some fell on the floor by my feet. I tried to cut in a straight line across the back but after I'd finished, it just looked odd. Trepidation started seeping in then. I really didn't want to mess this up. I wanted him to fit in, not stand out more on account of a fucked up hair do. I focused more on tackling the back. I'd never cut anybody's hair before, but common sense somehow overruled my ignorance. I used the comb to guide how short to cut the back and after I was satisfied with a semi graded finish, I tended to the front. I left the front longish. It fell in line with his ears so that when he pushed it back over the top of his head it created a generous, messy mound on the top.

It wasn't half bad.

"Ok, look," I said, taking the hand mirror off the coffee table next to us and handing it over his shoulder.

His fingers brushed against mine when he took the mirror and I contemplated a rain check on dinner. He passed his fingers through his hair to help it settle on the top and the sides. Thank goodness his hair was soft, because it obeyed his fingers and fell easily.

"You're right," he said. "It does make me look a tiny bit normal."

I ran around to the front and surveyed the damage. "Oh! It's marvelous!"

I did a small curtsy and took a bow. "Splendid!"

"Well, that's the desired effect. Are you ready to go?"

He stood from the chair and dusted off his shoulders. He was wearing a dark gray, V-necked sweater, a new black jacket that fell by his hips, his black jeans and his regular black boots. His sweater and jacket had the slits in the back to accommodate his wings and I knew immediately that they specially made for Gargoyles. I wondered where he had to go to get them and if whoever he went to was suspicious as to why he was in France. Not wanting to spoil our planned evening, however, I shrugged it off, happy that at least he had made the effort to get something that looked less ostentatious than his usual style.

I wore the only clothes I had with me. It was appropriate; fitted comfortable pants, feminine top, warm jacket and boots….no underwear. I'd lost that somewhere. Or maybe it had gotten destroyed with my first pants on our first night. I couldn't remember. Thankfully, my purse had a compact powder and lip gloss that I always kept in there so I was able to spruce up my face a bit. My Selenite was also in there.

"I'm ready," I said, slinging my purse over my shoulder.

"Do you need that?" He asked, pointing to it.

I looked down at it with furrowed brows, then back at him. "Why?"

"I'd really rather just concentrate on keeping _you_ in the air. The pockets in this jacket aren't as generous as the ones in my cloak and you holding onto it won't work."

"But my credit card's in here."

He stepped up close to me and slid the strap of the purse off my shoulder, then tossed it onto the bed.

"I don't know what kind of dates you've been on….but usually, the male figure does the paying."

"You have a credit card?" I asked, confused.

"Again," he said, taking my hand and leading me to the window. "Stop worrying. I know my way around the things of the world. I_ am_ ancient after all."

"So…..you have a credit card or not?"

"Gargoyle's are taken care of Isabella. Yes."

"By who?"

"By the Vatican. Enough questions. Close your eyes."

He made sure I couldn't get another word in by pulling me tight against his chest and flying us out through the window. This time I was facing him, horizontal to the ground with my legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!"

"What?!"

"I'm giddy! My stomach's all bunched!"

"Just breathe and keep your eyes on my face."

His hair danced in the wind and the back drop of black night behind him contrasted nicely with the bronze shade. My arms were firmly tied around his neck and because we were flying forward and my back was to the ground, I was essentially moving backward. That made my hair flip and swirl around to the front of my face, hampering my view.

His arms created an unyielding bed at my back so when I slacked one of my arms to push all my hair to one side, I never felt in danger of falling. His wings were spread magnificently above him. I stared at them in awe with the widest shit eating grin on my face. When he flapped them in one grand, swooping motion, I squealed. They had grazed the tops of my knees slightly.

"THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST FUCKING RIDE ON A DATE!!" I screamed giddily.

"We don't have far to go," he said smilingly. I could hardly see his face because mine was next to his, cheek to cheek, but I heard the amusement in his voice.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?!"

"Domaine de L'Etape," he answered. "Right here in Loire Valley…Le Blanc."

"NEVER HEARD OF IT!"

"Of course you haven't." He laughed. "Silly girl."

His wings came down again in another magnanimous thrust and the butterflies in my stomach swarmed when they grazed against my knees again.

"HOW COME YOU'RE HOLDING ME THIS WAY TONIGHT??! I DON'T MIND SEEING DOWN BELOW!"

Without answering or warning, he flipped my body around and pinned my back against his torso, making my hair slap my cheeks.

"SQUUUUEEEE!!" I exclaimed. "AGAIN!!"

"I'm glad you're enjoying this," he chuckled. My stomach churned slightly when we took a big dip.

"OOOOH! EASY!"

"It's time to go down. Front or back?"

"HUH?"

"Front or back….we're going down."

"UHHHH!!!! I DON'T KNOW! FRONT! FRONT! FRONT!"

"You're sure…."

"YES! HOW BAD CAN IT BE?!!"

It was bad.

He turned us vertical and descended with me facing outward. The last time he descended with me, I was facing inward and was able to smother the butterflies in my stomach by pressing myself firmly to him. Tightening my legs around him had also helped. This time was exaggeratedly different. It was like a wild, unbridled roller coaster ride, going down.

My lips and cheeks flapped in the wind. The lights on the landscape whirred. My hair flew straight up in the air and I couldn't contain the intense and ticklish butterflies in my stomach. I wanted to raise my knees and press them to myself but movement of any sort was impossible. I had my arms wrapped backward around his waist and my face turned to the side, pressed into his shoulder.

I screamed the entire way down.

* * *

Just before touch down, he slowed his pace. I never even knew when our feet touched. Maybe that was because I went straight down onto my knees and grabbed at the ground.

"I'm sure that was worse than taking a four year old up there," he chuckled in amusement.

"Oh, shut up. I'm so sure you did that on purpose! You came down _much_ slower the last time!"

"That was the exact pace as the last time, Isabella!" He was so amused by all this. His gray eyes gleamed and his white teeth shone. "It only felt different because you were facing outward, that's all!"

"Gah!" I exclaimed, swallowing at the air, on all fours.

"Stand up," he chuckled. "Here, take my hand. I will steady you."

I shot my arm upward and closed my fingers around his cold ones. The wind up there made him considerably colder than he felt when in our warm room. Once on my feet, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his lips to my forehead. I took a few deep breaths, letting his scent intoxicate the oxygen entering my lungs. I felt my fluttering heart still in my chest and my breathing slowly return to normal. His stroking fingers up and down my back also helped.

"Better?" He whispered, replacing his lips with his forehead on mine. I nodded against him and hugged him back.

"Better."

"Look," he said, turning me around gently with his hands on my waist. I almost lost my breath again when I saw the beauty erected before me. It looked like another castle, but much smaller. There were enough lights to create a glowing halo around the classic, charming building and there were trees everywhere. Even in the middle of winter there was grass on the ground. The welcoming glow that emanated off the building called out to me and I felt a jolt of excitement.

"It's beautiful!" I gasped. "Edward…."

"It's a hotel. The food in the restaurant from what I've heard is excellent. And it's quiet out here. There's an outdoor terrace where we can eat if it gets too overwhelming inside."

"We?" I said, turning back to him.

"Well….just because I don't need to eat doesn't mean I_ can't_."

"Really?"

"Inquisitive one," he took my hand and started walking toward the building. "Let's go inside."

"Won't we need reservations?"

"Not when I'm done talking, no."

"Ooooh la la!"

"Very appropriate response, actually." He smiled down at me from the side. "The French say that a lot."

He landed us in the outfield at the side, so we had a good distance to cover on foot before we made our way around to the front.

As soon as we approached the sweet little row of steps that spread out toward us, a man in a red jacket, bow tie and black pants came toward us.

"Bonne nuit!" He smiled. "Bienvenue."

He acknowledged Edward first, to be respectful I guess. Edward nodded graciously at the man then started rattling off a spew of French, leaving me gaping at him stupidly. The man then looked at me next and nodded respectfully. He said something to me in French and I smiled and shook my head to indicate that I couldn't understand.

"He said good night, Mademoiselle. He is pleased to have you and he hopes you enjoy dining here."

"Oui!" I grinned and nodded emphatically. That was quite possibly the only French word I knew. I'd be saying _"Oui"_ a lot that night, I knew.

We followed the man inside and I noticed him glance back over his shoulder at Edward a few times. I also noticed the way he ambled over to the side closer to me. I squeezed Edward's hand tightly for encouragement. He returned the squeeze.

After being placed on a table in the far corner of the restaurant at Edward's request, the first menu was placed in front of us.

"I hope you have a big appetite," he said to me quietly. It was very quiet in there and at first glance I knew it was considered "fine dining." The ambience was warming with autumn colored walls ranging from olive green to warm orange, and dark wooden furniture and accessories; very cozy and pretty. The tables all wore white table cloths and each had a lit olive green candle in the center.

"Why? Is the food a lot?" I asked, looking at the menu blankly. I was actually searching for the word "_oui_" on it, but why would the menu say "_oui_" anywhere? It's not like any English menus said "_Yes!_" in random places.

"Not exactly but French meals usually have eight courses."

"EIGHT COURSES?!" I spat out. I slapped my hand over my mouth right as I squealed it and cringed. I didn't dare look around at the few other guests in there and I knew I had turned a nasty shade of red.

"I'm sorry," Edward said with a grin. "I should have said parts…eight parts."

"What the….what are they?" I frowned at the menu again. "I can't understand shit."

"That menu in your hand is for _un aperitif_; a cocktail drink. The food isn't until later."

"Oh! Cocktails. Now you're talking. That's right up my alley. There isn't a cocktail I don't know. What comes after the nuparateef?"

His grin of amusement almost ate his face off.

"Un aperitif," he corrected me gently.

The only thing I didn't do was turn the menu upside down and shake it like an illiterate chimpanzee.

"Un _amuse-bouche_ or _amuse-gueule. _It's a small snack."

"Oh, like an appetizer?"

"No, the appetizer is after that, third. Une _entrée._"

"I thought the entre was supposed to be the main course?"

"In French, it means appetizer."

I twisted my mouth and glanced at an old couple sitting two tables away from us. They were staring at Edward and whispering. I made it a point to stare back at them until they felt uncomfortable and looked away awkwardly.

"How do you say _shit heads_ in French?" I asked Edward, my eyes still on the couple.

"Ignore them," he warned me.

"Ok, what comes after entre?"

"The main course, _le plat principal_."

"Fin-a-fucking-ly," I said, rolling my eyes. "Yuh think?"

"After that comes the cheeses, _le fromage_, then desert, then coffee, and finally the after dinner drink; _un digestif_."

"Show off," I snickered at him. "That's a god awful long process…so let's start. Order me a Martini?"

"Oooh," he responded with raised eyebrows. "I don't know why I'm surprised. You're a strong drinker."

"Oui," I said cheekily, with a triumphant grin.

As if the waiter knew exactly how and when to read our body language, he materialized at my side to take our drinks order. Edward ordered in French and the waiter, someone different to the one who led us inside, nodded and kept his eyes averted from Edward's.

We got through the first few courses easily because as it turned out, the servings were really small in order to compensate for the length of the meal. Edward ordered me the Tortellini with Shrimp in Lobster Sauce. He ordered the same for himself. All throughout dinner he picked at this food and swallowed one or two mouthfuls. I devoured everything on every plate that was put in front of me. So much so that on clearing away our main course plates, the waiter very politely asked Edward something.

"What did he tell you?" I asked, leaning over the table toward Edward.

"He asked if everything was to my satisfaction because he noticed I wasn't eating much."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him to stop focusing on me and pay more attention to you."

"He probably shit in his pants when you said that," I snickered. "I saw the look on his face. Sorry…. bad table conversation."

"What do you mean?"

"Shitting in pants….?"

"Oh," he said with a light shrug. "Do you mind sitting outside for the cheese and desert? It'll be deserted since it's winter."

"Oui," I said, determined to get my one word of French in at every opportunity.

Edward stood then and the waiter ran over to my side again. I was still seated but looked up at him curiously. He never went to Edward's side and though he didn't seem afraid, he was very cautious and curious with his stare.

After talking to each other, Edward nodded to me and gestured to the terrace outside.

He was right, we were the only two out there. He took off his jacket and put it over my shoulders then pulled my chair against his before he let me sit.

"Much better," I said as he sat beside me. "It's so pretty out here."

The cheese plate came out then with an assortment of different shapes and colors. I picked at a few but didn't eat much. They all smelled funny.

"I have a big question," I said.

"As usual," he returned, holding me to him with an arm around my waist.

"Tell me how it happened, your transformation."

As if his body wasn't already naturally hard, he stiffened up next to me.

"Is it ok to talk about that?" I asked softly, turning my eyes up to him.

"I'm actually surprised you didn't ask sooner," he said, removing his arm from around me. He leaned forward, put his both elbows on the little bistro table and clasped his hands in line with his mouth.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I was just curious."

"It's ok," he said and turned his face to the side a little. I readjusted myself and pulled his coat in around me tighter, burying my hands in the front pockets.

"It's physically very painful," he started. "And only an old Gargoyle can do it. Emmett is six hundred years old. In two more centuries he'll be an elder. The elders are the oldest in the Legion, eight hundred years and older."

I gasped silently.

"When a Gargoyle gets to a certain age, usually past seven hundred years, the composition of his stone changes. It gets more concentrated, like the purest and rarest rock, only more brittle and harder to destroy. The most concentrated substance in our bodies however, is what flows through our veins….."

"Your blood?"

"It's not blood. It actually look just similar to the substance you called _sperment_ last night, but without the obvious sperm component. It's also darker. It's the substance that keeps us alive, like your blood does for you and it has to be injected into the heart of a human for the transformation to begin. The heart digests it then pumps it out to the rest of the body. It pollutes the blood and breaks it down until the blood cells die out. It takes a week for the complete break down to take effect. Until that you're suspended in this weird larva/pupa stage of metamorphosis. It's like hell, excruciating pain. You literally feel the bones in your body crack under the weight of the "new blood"…." He used his fingers to make quotation marks.

"The new blood is cold. You feel like you're freezing from the inside out. It hurts. Then you feel your bones calcify. And just when you think the pain is over because the sting of the new blood doesn't hurt anymore with the strength of your new skeleton, the wings start to push themselves out."

"Oh God."

"You can't walk. I was kept locked away where no one would find me and for the last two days I lay on my stomach, tense and rigid in pain from the things that were growing inside of my back and pushing themselves out. That's the last stage. Once your wings free themselves, it's done. An elder has to witness and verify that the metamorphosis is complete and once he or she is satisfied, he sets the stone."

"How does he do that?"

"Another shot to the heart….just to make sure. That one doesn't hurt."

"Ouch… So you didn't die. As a human I mean…you just kind of transferred…"

"Yes. As painful as it is, the new blood keeps you alive. It's very potent and extremely powerful. It has all the nutrients the body needs to sustain you for all eternity. That's why we don't need to eat."

"What will happen if I drink from you?"

He turned his head sharply to me and frowned.

"You would die. It would calcify in your stomach and kill you. Only when it is shot through the heart does the change begin to take place."

"Oh." I bit down on my bottom lip.

"You said injected…in your heart….with what? How does it get into your heart?"

He leaned back then and started unbuttoning his shirt. I glanced toward the open terrace doors, but no one paid us any attention. Edward sat with his back to the doors anyway.

I stared at his bare chest for a few seconds, waiting for him to explain.

"I don't see anything," I said, squinting at his chest and leaning toward him slightly. He took my hand and held my index finger up. He then put my finger against the middle of his chest in line with his heart and traced a line downward. I felt the smallest of incisions in his skin. I leaned over closer and squinted harder. At the bottom of the almost invisible vertical line he took my finger and traced over another line that crossed the vertical one near the top.

It was a cross.

I surely felt the lines in his skin, but I had to literally stick my nose into his chest to see it. Only after getting very close to him and squinting harshly did I see the extremely thin cross engraved in his chest.

"Shit," I gasped. "How come I didn't see this before tonight?"

"Well obviously it's not easy to see," he answered, running the pad of my thumb over it. It was very easy to miss. I pulled my face back to my previous position and sure enough I couldn't see it anymore.

"How did they get it so thin? So neat? It's almost invisible."

He held up his hand to me then and wriggled his fingers.

"Nails."

"Ew….Emmett cut you open with his nail?"

"Yes."

"Your nails are that sharp," I stated with a nod. It didn't even make sense asking it. "And I guess the cross stands for something too."

He nodded with a slow blink.

"So after he cut you open what happened?"

"He made an incision in my heart as well, cut himself and let his substance drain into me. Just when you think you're about to pass out and die from the pain of the raw incisions, the contact of the substance with your heart gives you a jump kick and you stutter back to coherency."

I took a deep breath and leaned back in my chair as he redid the buttons on his shirt. I was stupefied. I had no idea it was that complicated and lengthy a process.

"It's so much simpler for vampires," I said, shaking my head. "Just a bite and snap of the neck, a good lusty drink and bada-boom. Vampire."

He smiled mysteriously then with his two index fingers pressed against his lips. I huddled deeper into his coat, alarmed by the look in his eyes.

"What….you're gonna tell me that vampires exist too?"

The glint in his eyes sent a chill down my spine. But he just winked and left it at that.

"Edward…."

The waiter arrived then and cleared away the cheese.

"Un petit café?" The waiter asked.

"Are you in the mood for coffee?" Edward asked.

After our conversation, my stomach was sufficiently knotted up; not to mention that last hanging topic. Nothing was going in there for the rest of the night.

"No, I'm full. Thanks."

"I'll be back," Edward said to me and stood up. After speaking softly to the waiter they both walked back into the restaurant together. The trees that bended over the railing of the terrace rustled hauntingly in the night breeze and suddenly, everywhere seemed darker. I wrapped myself in my arms and looked to my sides, then looked in through the terrace doors to the properly lit indoors.

A noticeably eerie feeling settled over me then. Deciding that I was just spooked from my conversation with Edward, I got up and decided to meet him inside. He was already walking back to me by the time I made it to the doors.

"Let's go back to the castle." I smiled at him. "This was great. I loved it. Thank you."

Something flashed over his face then and he shifted his eyes over the top of my head. I registered the flitting dark look on his face and just as I was about to turn around to look, he took my hand in his and started walking away.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yes," he said simply, wrapping his arm firmly around my waist.

We walked down the front steps and headed back toward the spot at the far side where we landed. Looking out to the area from where we were showed how dark it actually was out there. I couldn't see anything beyond the reach of the lights coming off the hotel's walls just a few feet away. I knew immediately that walking out into that field would have concealed us completely in the dark. I wrapped my arm around his waist and held on tight as the thought of the darkness snagged me. There was also the silent agitation that was suddenly coming off Edward.

"Why are you walking so fast?" I asked, knowing instinctively that something was wrong.

Without answering me, he lifted my feet off the floor, turned me in toward him with a cradling hand at the back of my head and darted off the ground. I wrapped my legs around his waist again and held on to him tightly around his neck, my heart ricocheting anxiously in my chest. Dread filled me up and made my stomach drop. Something was wrong.

"Edward," I said against the side of his face. "Tell me what's wrong, please."

He tightened his hold on me then and jet off faster. I felt the increase in speed and I had to close my eyes to withstand the physical pressure. The wind was slamming hard into my back and head.

"Edward!" I shrieked, begging him to answer me.

"I love you, Isabella," he said into my ear. "I love you now. I have loved you ever since discovering you and even in my death, my heart will belong to you."

A hot wave of tears stung the insides of my eyelids. His voice was laced with strain and his heart that beat against mine, was pounding.

"Edward, I'm scared," I pleaded.

"I will not leave your side."

"What's happening?!"

"Fuck," he bit out, and I felt him pull sharply to my left and change direction. "We have to go back."

"Back where?"

"To the castle."

"But I thought that was where we were going?!"

"We have to get your Selenite immediately. Close your eyes, Isabella….and hold on tight."

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**A/N: CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!!!!! **

***grins mischievously & looks around naughtily***

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	13. Chapter 12 Dead End

A/N: Just read and enjoy guys. I luuuurve you. Special welcome to some new readers and great reviewers** reader-giggles **(reviewed all the way through Conflicted & followed me over here - much love); **Thatstheway **(another faithful - much love to you too); and **Mrs Boyscout!** Warm welcome**!  
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* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Dead End**

**Bella**

The trip back was three times as fast as the trip to the restaurant. Needless to say, it didn't help that my stomach was full to completion with six to eight courses to food. I don't know how I kept it all down, going so fast, so high up in the sky. Edward held me securely though. I could have opened my arms and released all my weight on him with the way he held on to me and not fall. Still, I clutched, because the knowledge of how high up we were was enough to fray every nerve to an end.

There were no clouds that night; no stars, no moon that I could see and no twinkling lights down below to comfort me. With my face pressed to the side of his, I felt the bunched muscles in his tightly clench jaw rub against mine.

He avoided talking of course, because the apparent answers to my questions were nothing short of discomforting. We were obviously running....or flying rather, from something threatening. His urgency frightened me. He didn't even have to tell me for me to piece it together on my own. And whether or not it was the elders of The Legion, or the members of his host behind us, the bottom line was.....we were found.

My heart wouldn't slow. It galloped violently behind my breast bone, competing with Edward's pace for dominance. I dreaded the truth, that our fantasy time together had reached its precipitous end. And more alarming than what was following us, was the concept of being separated from Edward so suddenly....or at all.

Despite his rush, his grace was unconquered and we landed on the balcony outside my castle window, gently. I opened my mouth to ask again but he shoved me through the window and dove in behind me. He never even tried to lock the window. I noticed that with a sunken heart, registering that whatever it was out there would not be restrained by a locked window.

He made a B line for the bed, snatched my purse up and all but tore it apart to get at the Selenite inside. His face was concentrated, stern. His brows were thick and heavy over his eyes, casting the darkest of shadows over his silvery grays. His jaw was clenched so tightly that I felt a reaction in my own jaw. I wondered if he could ever clench so tight that his teeth would break under the pressure. I hoped I would never find out.

He came to me swiftly, brushed my jacket aside, opened the top button of my shirt and slid his cold fingers inside. I felt the cold metal clasp against my chest, moving with his fingers to find a nesting place inside of my bra, against my breast.

"Keep it out of sight," he said to me. My heart stuttered at the painful inflection in his voice. He buttoned my shirt closed again, pulled my jacket in and zipped it up all the way to my neck. He then replaced his coat over my shoulders, as if enough layers would keep me hidden.

"Edward," I started shakily. "You have to tell me what's happening."

He raised his chin slightly, bringing his tormented gaze up to mine. His hands moved to my shoulders and he pulled me toward him so that we were nose to nose.

"We've been found," he whispered. "And we have all of twenty seconds before they come crashing through the window."

"Found by who?" I asked, closing my eyes. My body started to tremble. "How did they find us! Was it because you used your credit card at the restaurant?"

He frowned. "No, I did not."

"But I asked you before we left and you said yes."

"You asked me if I had a credit card and I said yes. I did not say that I was going to use it. I am smarter than that, Bella. I used cash."

"Then how did they....."

He shut me up with a kiss.

His cold fingers stretched out in the hair around my ears, holding my face in front of his. I could have sworn that I felt him tremble too, but it could have been my own body doing all the quaking and transferring it to him. He didn't make the kiss sweet. It was demanding and forceful. His tongue pushed into my warm mouth and pressed against mine, all the way to the back of my throat. I could hardly respond to him without losing my breath. Our teeth clashed. Our hands grabbed. Our noses butted and pressed. Our breaths came in short, hampered gasps. He pulled my lip into his mouth and bit into it hungrily, making me cry out in alarm.

He stole every ounce of air from my lungs as he sucked on my mouth and when he moved his hands down to wrap me in a maddening embrace, I almost died. My shaking grew worse and strangely enough, I didn't cry. I felt his despair and his panic shoot through his kiss and his needy touch. And though it cut my heart into pieces, the fear was greater.

"Pavesco," he whispered. "Pavesco."

"What? What?" I gasped.

"I'm shaking," he responded in translation.

He really was. I felt it in his hands and in the way his lips sputtered against mine. That's when my eyelids started to sting.

"I owe you my life," he said against my mouth.

"No," I choked out. "Why are you talking like that. Stop it...."

"Yes. You have given meaning to my life that I had no right to expect. And for that joy, I owe myself to you."

"Edward...stop...."

"And for the danger I repeatedly put you in."

"You did no such thing. I _wanted _this...don't forget that.."

"I knew better, but still, I wasn't strong enough to resist you. This is my fault."

"Do you want to see my cry? Is that you're trying to do here? Who is coming right now? Who's out there?"

"No one's _coming_," he said as he raised his face, holding me tightly

against him. "They are already here."

I could barely utter another syllable before three dark figures darted through the window and brought the night chill in with them. I dug my fingers into Edward's jacket at his waist and his arms squeezed me. Any tighter and I would have passed out from the suffocation. His wings were still out, but folded behind him.

I recognized Alice immediately. She tried to hurry toward us but a burlesque one with short, dark hair pulled her back.

"Don't hurt him!" Alice squealed at him. "You promised!"

With my face pressed against Edward's chest like it was, I heard his booming heart. It was both music to my ears and a dreadful symbol of the trouble we were in. No heart I knew could beat that fast.

"Alice, be calm," said a handsome, tall, blond one from behind.

"Edward," Alice pleaded, turning back to us. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, Alice," Edward said. "It was inevitable."

I had no words. My fright had trapped and bound my voice squarely inside of my throat. That was the first time I felt my eye balls tremble. I didn't even now that was possible.

I raised my face to Edward's. That dangerous, brooding frown that usually gave me butterflies, now gave me the creeps. I was sure a Gargoyle could kill with just a glare. The way he was staring daggers at the two male ones left nothing to the imagination. He wanted to kill them and he was prepared to do it if he felt it would protect me from them.

"Edward," the blond one said.

"Carlisle," Edward answered.

"It's over."

"Id imperfectum manet dum confectum erit," Edward bit out. His entire body vibrated with the force of his voice.

I dreaded a conversation between them in Latin. I wanted to hear and understand everything that was about to happen. I looked to Alice. Her eyes were alarmed but gentle on me. With a flitting move, she came up behind me and put her hands on my shoulders. I yelped and Edward turned on her.

"I won't hurt her," Alice said quickly. "I am here to help. Let me help you."

"Alice!" The dark haired one growled.

"Emmett, you promised," Alice shot back, in a matter of fact tone. "Now let me do what we came here to do."

I couldn't see her face, but I felt her cold hands on my shoulders. Edward however, refused to let me go. He didn't budge a single inch.

"Edward," Alice said in a steady voice. "I will take care of her. Nice hair by the way."

"I'm not letting her go," he growled, ignoring her comment about his new haircut.

"You don't have to," Alice responded. "But you can't talk to them and hold onto her like that. You're suffocating her. Bella?"

"..."

"Will you let me hold you?"

"What?" I belted out, still unable to see her behind me. "Nuh uh....I'm not leaving him."

"Alice. Back off," Edward said.

"You don't have to leave his side," Alice said to me gently. "We'll stand right here next to him. But he'll kill you if he keeps crushing you like he is now."

She had a point. Already my breathing was hampered.

"Edward. You know you can trust me."

I felt his arms open slightly then and my lungs swelled to take in a proper breath of air.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Alice," Edward warned. "Do not give me a reason to retaliate."

"I won't."

He released me but took my hand instead. Alice pulled me against her chest gently with her hands on my shoulders. I was side by side with Edward, hand in hand, with Alice welded to my back. At the moment I was the safest human being in the world.....in the most trouble.

Emmett was furious. His expression was riddled with contempt and wrath. His eyes flashed like a fiery blade just out of a hearth of red fire. He took a step forward with his fist clenched at his sides.

"_Age. Fac ut gaudeam_," Edward growled, enclosing his fingers around my small hand tighter.

I looked to him, then to Emmett, then to the one called Carlisle.

"He said," Alice whispered into my ear. "Go ahead. Make my day."

I nodded sideways in silent thanks to her and she squeezed my shoulders lightly.

_Perceptive_, I thought of her. I was liking Alice intensely all of a sudden.

"Abyssus abyssum invocat, Edward," Carlisle said authoritatively. "You brought this on yourself. I love you but I am an elder and you have put me in a very compromising position. What am I to say the the other elders?"

I shook my head ignorantly.

"One misstep leads to another," Alice translated the Latin part for me.

"The elders?" Edward growled. "_Damnant quod non intellegunt!_"

"They condemn what they do not understand," Alice whispered.

"Dura lex, sed lex," Carlisle said with a step forward. "Legum servi sumus ut liberi esse possimus!"

"Free?!" Edward screamed. "You call _this_ free?!"

I turned my face to the side and Alice came up beside me.

"The law is harsh, but it is the law," she translated. "We are slaves to the law so that we may be free."

Edward tugged on my hand then and got my attention.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's out of habit. I will try to speak for your benefit."

"Ok." I nodded, relieved.

"We can still save Bella if she leaves now," Carlisle said, taking Edward's lead.

"Leave?" I squeaked, darting my eyes everywhere.

"Explain," Edward said, ignoring my panic.

I looked to Carlisle despairingly, knowing that Edward would take any opportunity to save me at that point....even if it meant sending me away. My spirit started to crumble and the pain in my chest heaved glaringly. It couldn't be over....not so soon. I hadn't had my fill of him yet, not that I'd ever have it. I knew that regardless of how much time I had with him that I'd never be able to accept our day of reckoning. I knew that nothing would make me ready for it, but having it slam so steadily and suddenly into focus, shattered me. We still had two weeks for crying out loud and I wasn't about to be cheated in that way.

"We can take her back home," Carlisle said, shifting his eyes to me briefly. "If the elders find you here _without _her and you deny that she knows what you truly are, they may be willing to overlook it. We will vouch for that lie, admit to your romance with her, but say that she doesn't know the truth. Rosalie has agreed to hypnotize her into forgetting about you so that when they find her, she won't...."

"What!!" I screamed, interjecting in gaping shock. "What??!! No! Edward! No!"

Edward closed his eyes. The pain in his features was heartbreaking, maddening. He was actually considering this.

"Don't listen to them, Edward! Please! I'm not consenting to this. I do _not _want to forget you!"

I shrugged out of Alice's hands. She let me. I came to face Edward and pounded my free fist into his chest. He never let go of my other hand. His eyes opened and his gray pools of torment burned into me, tearing through my heart like a steel stake.

He didn't have to say anything for me to know what he was thinking. The control on my tears that I had worked on over the past few days suddenly vaporized. The angry mess spurted from my sockets and burned my cheeks on their way down, triumphant in their win over me.

"I won't let you agree to it," I said to him softly, shifting my eyes between his. "I have to be with you until the very end. Two weeks....it's all I ask. Please don't hurt me like this. Please don't let it all be for nothing!"

He grabbed my face in his both hands and pressed his forehead to mine. He really _was _shaking. His sweet breath blew out onto my face and the chill raised my pores. I felt his battle emote through his trembling touch. He was torn. He was broken and all my plea did was press on his wounds. I knew his weakness...it was me, and I had to do everything in my power to work that weakness to my advantage. Appealing to his physical and emotional urges rather than his intellect would sway him and I hoped that I was right.

"I love you," I whispered, raising my face to press a quivering kiss to his lips. "I need you." Another kiss. "Please don't leave me." Another. "Even if Rosalie hypnotizes me I'll always know, because I love you with my heart, Edward, not my mind. She can't hypnotize my heart."

"I most certainly can." An arrogant tone hit me from behind. It was her. I didn't even know she had come inside.

"Advocatus diaboli," Edward grunted, raising his face to look at her over my head.

"Devil's advocate," Alice said quietly from the side.

"Thank you...Alice," Edward said in irritation, shooting her an annoyed glance.

"I'm only trying to help," she said with a shrug.

"Bella," Carlisle said. "I understand your turmoil, but...."

"No you don't," I interrupted, turning to stare directly at him. "How can you? You have no idea what my turmoil is like. You have no idea what the weight of this love feels like. How could you? _Your_ heart is stone. I am about to lose the person I love most dearly in this world and all anyone can think about is how to shorten what little I have left. I may be cursed. I may be foolish to squander my life for something more fragile than ice in fire, but there is nothing that will change my mind about him now.

"What would you do Mr. Carlisle? If the one you loved was about to die and you had but a mere few days left...hours even? What would you do if nothing about you made sense without that person? If you had to face abysmal emptiness, helpless and broken in the wake of that person's death? If you were hunted like criminals for the sin of embracing love? Would you give up? Would you let the curse of fate destroy what could be beautiful? Just because someone said it was wrong??"

Carlisle's eyes averted toward the window. He took a small breath in through his mouth and tensed his shoulders, stubborn but afflicted.

"Then who is she?" I bit out, training my livid stare on him. "Who is the unfortunate woman that will never know what it is like to be loved to completion like my Edward loves me? Who is the woman that has been short changed by your meager love, your rules and gover....."

"I am no woman," said a striking one, materializing suddenly through the window. Her hair was dirty blond and her face was lovely, chiseled and sharp, but soft where it mattered. She was tall and elegant and reeked of poise with eyes as gray as the rest. At the moment however, they were spitting with defiance and pointing needles at me. She was insulted by what I had said.

"I am a Gargoyle," she continued, correcting me. "And you know not of what you speak about so arrogantly. Carlisle loves me. I have been witness to it for more centuries than it would take to reincarnate _you _seven times over. So hold your tongue...._human_."

She made it sound like a dirty word. It even made me feel dirty, inferior, judged....marginalized.

Carlisle turned his back on us and walked over to the fireplace, thinking strenuously. I moved my eyes back to the one who I assumed was his mate, then to Rosalie who was standing next to Emmett. Alice was still beside Edward and me. For a split second I wondered if Alice had a mate too, since the others were obviously

paired off. I remembered the night on the Notre Dame Cathedral when Edward talked briefly about which one was which and who was with who, but at the moment I couldn't remember any of it.

The inside of the castle room suddenly seemed small, crowded by one too many Gargoyles and their over sized egos.

"Bella," Edward said, turning me to face him again. "It might be the only way to save you."

"Forget about saving me, Edward. It's you that needs saving."

"He cannot be saved," Emmett spoke up. "His life was given on contract and he made his choice. It is over. Your love affair has polluted what should have been a peaceful end to two centuries of upheaval...."

"She has given me more peace than I could have ever hoped for," Edward cut him off. "In a lifetime of chaos and unbridled turmoil, her love has given me peace. Hush."

His eyes shifted to Carlisle's back then.

"Carlisle."

"Edward."

"How long do we have until Aro and his entourage get here."

Carlisle turned back toward us and pinned his eyebrows together.

"I don't know. I'm afraid that us being here has done nothing but lead them straight to you. They would have been tagging us. But we couldn't stay away. We are not here to hurt either one of you, Edward. We came in peace though our tempers may suggest otherwise. We came to stand with you and to offer our help to Bella. We came to stand guard and to ensure that you stop this and get the kind of end you deserve....a quiet one. We have been worried about you."

"Then I appreciate your concern," Edward said. "Thank you. A few days then?"

"Aro likes his structure. He may not show himself right away when he finds you. He will lurk and observe you then show up right on time....when _your_ time is up. That is why we wanted to get Bella away, so that when he arrives he would see that you are not with her. If he finds her here, there will be no way we can convince him that she does not know the whole truth."

Before Edward could even answer I spoke up.

"I don't care. Let Aro do whatever he wants with me. It is my life and I have the right to play my cards however I want to. This is what I choose. I choose Edward."

"Isabella, I love you too much to see you kill yourself like this. It is mortal suicide," he said, shaking his head with sorrow etched across his handsome features.

"Then love me enough to respect my decision. I will not leave you."

"Aro will not be kind."

"Then look at it this way.....I was supposed to die, remember? I'm not even supposed to be here? So dying with you would only be right. You saved my life and this is what I want to do with it...spend every last drop of it with you. My life belongs to you."

"Bella," he whispered emotionally, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead to mine. "My God, what have I done to you?"

"Inexplicable things, Edward....both physical and emotional. After all that, how can you expect that I would leave you now?"

"I never _expected_ you to agree to it," he answered, rocking my face back with a gentle push of his forehead. His lips dropped onto mine then and it was all it took to blot the others out of my environment.

"I hoped," he finished, opening his eyes to gaze at me tortuously. "One more week."

I swallowed and frowned up at him in question.

"One more week with me, if my host will allow it, but at the first sign of the elders, Bella, Alice will need to take you away."

"You're still not listening..."

He hushed me with a finger to my lips and kissed the back of his finger there.

"I have listened, _deliciae_, and this is what I have decided for the life you say is mine. In the same way you cannot agree to leaving me here tonight, I cannot agree to you dying with me. I saved your life so that you may live, not so that you could give it away like this. A few more days. I will finish my journal and give it to you as my gift. We will scout the vicinity every night for signs of the elders and when we sense them nearing, I will ask Alice to take you back home. Alice?"

"Of course," Alice answered.

"They won't be fooled," Rosalie came in. "Her scent is everywhere. They are the elders. They aren't stupid. They will know she was here."

"We can mask the scent," Alice said. "It's worth a try."

Rosalie scoffed at Alice then folded her arms.

"Carlisle," Edward said. "Will you agree to this? It is your plan, just a few days later."

"It's risky," Carlisle said with the most troubled of expressions on his face. Then he turned to his Gargoyle mate. "Esme? What do you think?"

So that was her name, the one who had put me in my human place. Her eyes shifted between Edward and me and after a few seconds of serious thought, her features softened.

"We came to help and to protect as best as we could," she said. "And if this how you want our help, ok. But we can only protect as far as our jurisdiction allows."

"Then my answer is yes," Carlisle said, turning to us. "We will stay for a few more days and mark the vicinity. But Bella _must_ leave cooperatively when we say she has to."

"Bella?" Edward said down to me. I buried my face into his chest and took a deep breath, horrified and drained. "Please? For me."

"Ok," I choked out into his chest, shaking my head and unable to believe the words that were actually coming out of my mouth. At least I got him to agree to me staying a few days longer. "Ok, Edward. I will leave you in a week."

*****

He took me out onto the balcony after we came to an agreement, so that I could meet the others.

"So, that's Emmett," I said to him once we were outside. "Your maker."

"Yes. And you've also met Carlisle, the host leader and his spouse, Esme."

"I'm sorry about that," I raised apologetic eyes to him. "I didn't think he actually had a mate when I was talking to him."

"I'm pretty sure you would have said it anyway had you known, Bella," he said with a small shake of his head. "It's fine. Esme is kind hearted. She won't hold it against you."

"Edward," came a deep voice from in the dark beyond us. The sound of it made my blood churn. It was low and growly and very eerie. A tall, wide figure with jet back hair that hung waist low, stepped out from the shadows with another, smaller figure at his side. The sight of the big one made me flinch. I remembered him. He was the last thing I had seen before I blacked out in the Pet Cemetery a few weeks earlier. He was just as threatening that night as he was the first time I'd seen him, even if my first sighting was merely a glance. Edward felt my reaction and tightened his hand around mine.

"Jake," Edward said, pulling me toward the giant gently.

The big, long haired one bounded forward and threw himself against Edward's chest. The impact tore my hand out of Edward's grasp. They were in each other's arms, laughing and hugging and slapping each other's backs. The roar of their laughter was ominous. I blushed and looked away, slightly embarrassed by their show of affection for each other. I ended up looking right at the smaller one who stood with his arms folded and his shoulder propped against the castle wall. He was blond and slender and his eyes were on me, silent and observing.

I thought I saw him smile slightly but in the next second Alice had darted to his side, stealing my attention from his bewitching stare. It was obvious to me then that he was Alice's. And so, my earlier question was answered.

"When the hell did you do this?!" Jake laughed out. I tore my eyes away fro Jasper to see Jake playing with Edward's hair. I blushed slightly when Edward looked over at me.

"Come here," Edward said, holding his hand out to me. "Bella did it," he said, taking my hand. "I like it."

"I like it too," Alice said. "Looks good on you. It needs evening out but...."

"It's quite alright, Al," Edward interjected gently, squeezing my hand. "Meet Jake," he said to me, pushing me forward slightly.

"Hello," I said to Jake. He extended his hand, which I just looked at stupidly.

It was only the largest hand I'd ever seen.

He twiddled his fingers under my stare and chuckled.

"I believe our first meeting was less than amicable," Jake said. "Allow me to make amends?"

A sudden wave of emotion hit me then. Edward's entire host had come to his aid. They were essentially sticking their necks out to help him despite the fact that we had willingly put ourselves in that mess. They could have stayed in Seattle and just let Edward's time run out. Aro would have found us and dealt with us however he wanted to without them ever knowing. Edward would have died and possibly me too and they would have gone on with their existence, ignorant as to how it ended for Edward. They could have washed their hands clean of him and said _"He made his bed, now let him lie in it."_

But they didn't. They searched him out, found him and even tried to help _me._....though I didn't deserve it. I put my hand and in Jake's still outstretched one then, and held it. He closed his large fingers around my hand like a giant's around a baby's, and made me smile. He was the only other live Gargoyle I had touched besides Edward. Alice had held my shoulders but we hadn't had skin on skin contact like this. And the nights she took me to bed I was unconscious. So it didn't count if I couldn't remember it. Jake's hand however, was as cold and as hard as Edward's and when he squeezed my fingers lightly my smile widened.

"It's forgotten," I said to Jake, amazed at my beloved creatures. I had grown past my awe and initial aversion to live Gargoyles. I had fallen in love with them. Everything about them warmed my heart and made me inch closer. "I'm Bella."

"I know," Jake said with a grin. "My Edward is rather taken with you."

I blushed. "And I with him."

"I'm Jasper," said the smaller, blond one, stepping forward. Alice was smiling widely. "We haven't met. Alice had told me a lot about you."

He held out a gloved hand to me and I took it shyly once Jake released me. His hold has harder than the others, rougher and tighter. He shook my hand then let go with a sideways smile. His eyes were daring and I knew instinctively that there was something more dangerous about him than the others. He had a quiet, deadly quality about him that put me off center.

"I missed you," Jake said to Edward. "I don't get away with half as much as I should without you around."

"Then you better get used to it," Rosalie said, making me turn around in alarm. I would have to get used to that. They were incredibly light on their feet. "He's not coming home with us. You still have a lot to get used to, Jake."

She said it with venom in her voice and it iced my blood.

"Get off it," Jake said to her teasingly. "We all know that _you're_ gonna miss him a hell of a lot more than the rest of us."

He and Jasper started snickering then and Rose huffed and flew off the balcony.

"You're gonna pay for that when she gets back," Emmett said to Jake. "Keep pissing her off and see where it lands you."

"If you were human," Jake chuckled. "You'd be what they call...pussy whipped."

"Shall I state the obvious, Jake?" Emmett came back.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jake said with a dismissing hand gesture. "I don't have pussy to talk about. I know."

Emmett turned to Edward then and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad we found you. It took longer than we expected, but now that we're here, I was hoping to have some time with you....alone?"

My body tensed immediately. They all looked over at me then, as if they all heard my muscles buckle and the skipped beat of my heart. I'd never be able to hide a single reaction from their supernatural senses, I knew.

"I promise I won't keep him long," Emmett said to me.

"Fine," I said, looking at Edward with a stiff shrug. I glanced at the others then, wondering what the hell I was going to do without Edward there for support.

"It's ok. Bella and I will bond," Alice said, walking over to my side. "We have lots to talk about."

"We do?"

"Sure we do!" She turned to Edward then. "Go on. She'll be ok."

I stiffened up and again, they all noticed and looked at me. I'd have rolled my eyes if I didn't have such a rapt audience. Edward reached out to me then and took my hands in his.

"I'll be back before you know it," he said, dropping a light kiss on the back of each hand. Every moment felt like our last all of a sudden. As the seconds ticked away they got more and more fragile, more threatening, less promising and void of comfort.

"Just promise that you'll come back," I said, afraid that the elders were nearer than they thought and that he'd be snatched away. "I'm not ready to say goodbye to you yet...or ever, but that's not the point."

He kissed my forehead, lingeringly. "I promise."

Emmett took off first, sending a gust of cold wind behind him. When Edward took off, it was louder and his gust of wind was stronger, lifting my hair off my shoulders. I deduced that it was because his wings were larger than Emmett's.

"Are you cold?" Alice asked me. "We can go inside."

"Ok," I answered. "Sure."

"Stay," she said in a warning tone to Jake.

"I'm not a dog." He laughed with a booming, growling sound.

"You're close enough," she responded cheekily.

"We need to watch the perimeter anyway," Jasper said, darting in front of Alice and me. My breath caught in my throat when he did that.

"Leaving without my kiss?" He said to Alice seductively. They kissed then and I inched my way toward the window. Just as I made it to the sill, Carlisle and Esme came through it.

"We hope you have a good night, Bella," Carlisle said. "You won't see us until tomorrow night. Sleep well."

"Yah, I doubt she'll be sleeping at all when Edward gets back," Jake said from behind us with his throaty voice.

Esme shot him a disparaging look and smiled at me cautiously. That was our only communication for the rest of the night. She hurried away and before Carlisle could follow her, I stopped him.

"Hey," I said. "Thanks. You may think I don't understand, but I do. You're risking a lot by being here for Edward and I see that. So, thank you."

He nodded amorously with a small, tight lipped smile then left behind Esme.

It was just Alice and I inside the castle room after that. The rest of them were off scouting for elders and guarding the premises. Edward and Emmett were talking. I wondered what about.

"You had a hell of a lot more to say to me the last time we met," Alice said teasingly, snooping around the various items in the castle room.

"Well that was because the last time we met you came with a different kind of message."

"Forget about Edward," she said, recalling her message in her last visit with an arched eyebrow. "Well....I've known him for two hundred years. I can see why you're so smitten."

"I'm not smitten by him."

"You're not?"

"I'm in love with him. This isn't just a fly by night fascination, Alice. It's real."

"Well....it may be more than mere fascination, but let's be honest. It's still fly by night.....no pun intended."

She was walking through the room slowly, trailing her fingers over whatever she could touch, poking her nose into jars, drawers, cupboards. Basically, she uncovered more in the room in two minutes than I had done in two weeks. Then again, I wasn't interested in the room once Edward was in it.

"I know you love him, Bella," she said, turning to me with empathy

in her eyes. "And he obviously loves you. In two hundred years, I've never seen Edward like this with anyone, Gargoyle or human. He's always been introverted, suffering in silence, angry with the world and with the systems that hold it in place. He was always too focused on all the wrong things to be able to find something like....love, for instance. And that Bella, is why we are here.

"Regardless of everything and what he's done, we know his heart and we know what he deserves for all the purity he has in him. No Gargoyle I know has ever suffered for the human race the way he has. He is perfect, Bella, despite his flaws. Edward is perfect."

I knew that already, but hearing it said by someone else made my heart swell.

"He deserved to feel loved the way you love him before he died. I watched him run way from it for two centuries, and it finally bit him in the pebble, right in the last inning. Once we saw the lengths he was willing to go to with you, we knew we couldn't abandon him. He needs us, Bella."

"I know," I said softly, tugging at the hemline of his jacket that I was still wearing. "I didn't want to take him away from you guys. I just thought that you wouldn't understand."

"We always understood, but that didn't make it any safer for the two of you. It was only right to warn the two of you."

"Alice...." My voice trailed off. A bout of nerves swarmed in my stomach and cut my courage.

She came over next to me and sat on the bed. I took a deep breath and found the will to continue. I hadn't the courage to ask Edward this question, but Alice seemed like the right person to ask.

"Would me.....becoming a Gargoyle.....help Edward at all?"

She didn't react the way I knew Edward would have. She didn't shut me up immediately with an intimidating bark and a piercing glare. She actually smiled.

"No, it wouldn't."

"How come?"

"Because you becoming a Gargoyle would only take care of one violation; exposing himself to you. His sentence had nothing to do with you. It had to do with his unresolved pact made with Emmett and besides, he made his choice. He asked for death and when it was contested he argued why he wanted it."

"What?"

"Carlisle tried to persuade him otherwise, but Edward wouldn't listen. He was quite adamant about wanting an end to eternal discomfort and all the painful memories that followed him over the threshold. Emmett also tried to talk to him but he only got angry, so they let him be."

I pushed myself up off the bed and grabbed on to the roots of my hair.

"Ugh!" I shrieked through clenched teeth. "That makes me so angry! Every time I think about it I just want to...._break _something!"

"Bella, you have to remember.....he didn't know you then...."

"That doesn't make me feel any better, Alice!" I yelped, swinging back to face her. "It still means that the die has been cast and stuck. We're at a dead end and there's no going back. It's horrible."

"It must be, but Bella, you have to try conditioning yourself to let him go. You've had your time with him and got what you wanted....."

"I have not gotten what I wanted," I grunted. "What I want is to be with him....forever. I want him to live. Hate is too kind a word to describe what I feel when I think of living without him. I simply cannot think of it. I've tried and the picture is carnivorous. It eats at me alive. How am I going to live, Alice? After all this?!" I raised my arms in the air and spun around. "How can I face normalcy, and boredom and emptiness after I've had _everything _with him?"

"That's why you need to be hypnotized," she said plainly.

I dropped my hands back to my sides and narrowed my eyes at her. "Absolutely not."

"It's for your own good, Bella. You're right, you're not going to be able to readjust to your regular life. You will experience severe withdrawals and separation anxiety. You will get depressed, withdrawn and I can also say with some level of certainty that you will want to end your life. I've seen it happen before. Don't think for one second that you are the first to go through this. I know what's involved. Hypnosis is the only thing that will protect you, not just from the elders....from yourself."

"Alice," I squeezed out with a quivering chin. "Hypnosis? You want me to forget him? Forget Edward? It will never happen! Even if she tried!"

"It will happen. Rosalie is very powerful."

"Oh my God! No! I don't want it. You can't take away my free will."

"Bella," she said getting to her feet and walking toward me slowly. When she got to me she raised a hand and wiped away a tear I didn't even know had escaped my lid. "If you think about it logically you will see that it's the best option for you. You can't prefer lifelong heartache, pain, unfulfilled yearning and depression to....ignorant bliss."

"There will be nothing _blissful_ about it."

"Then think about Edward," she said with knowing eyes.

I sucked in a harsh breath of air and felt my chest buck.

"Think about what would make _him _happy," she continued. "Do you think he would want you to suffer after he's gone? Do you think his death will be peaceful and happy knowing that he's leaving you behind to suffer and die under the weight of your pain? Do you think he deserves that?"

Manipulation. Whether or not her heart was in the right place, it was what it was and I was actually being swayed by it. Just like I was Edward's biggest weakness, he was mine and there was nothing that could crush me like the thought of causing him sadness.

I turned my back on Alice and cried it out for a while. She touched my back but I shrugged her off, hating her for being right.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I'm the bearer of bad news again but I'm trying to make this better for you, Bella. It usually gets worse before it gets better, but if you listen to me, it _will_ get better. I hope you'll trust me. I care about you."

I shook my head and sniffled over the heaving of my chest and the sputtering of my tears.

"How can you care about me? You don't even know me."

"You love Edward and Edward loves you. That gives you have a special place in my heart."

"What heart," I bit out, walking toward the fireplace. I threw myself down on the rug and pulled his coat tightly around me. It smelled like him and the scent was both comforting and heart wrenching at the same time.

"You don't doubt that Edward has a heart," she said. "Why would you doubt the existence of mine?"

"Edward was human," I grunted. "He can feel things you don't. He told me about it."

"You're angry," she said. "And hurting. I know that you know better than that. And I know that you see the sense in what I'm saying. You don't have much time to think about it, Bella. Before you know it, the time will be upon us. I'm sure he has told you about Tanya and what she did to herself because she couldn't be with him. And I'm sure you saw the pain his eyes when he told you his tale....even after two centuries. Don't let yourself be his second Tanya.

"Don't put that on his soul. Don't give him that kind of weight to carry into his death. There is life after death and he will know. Trust me, he will know. Give him peace, Bella. He's already sacrificed a lot by running away with you because you wouldn't give up wanting to be with him. He gave you what you wanted. Now give him this. Make this sacrifice, choose the hypnosis and give him peace....please."

I bent over onto myself and let out the most painful surge of tears since arriving at the castle. The nightmare amidst the dream couldn't get any worse. I was drowning in myself. I detested the idea of forgetting about him. The thought of continuing in a trance like state without him in my memory was gutting. How was it even possible? How could I go from living and breathing him in every second to not knowing that he ever existed; or that he loved me and I, him? How could I not know that he had touched me, made love to me, fed me, took me into the sky, played with and teased me? How could it all be boiled down to nothing?

Not a minute later I felt him behind me.

"I'm sorry, Edward," I heard Alice whisper on her way out. Her voice sounded like a light echo, eerie and ghostlike as it whisked away behind the zephyr she left in her wake.

I fell back into his arms and let him hug me from behind. The instant I felt him, I stopped crying. His presence was overtly comforting and the only thing that made any of it better, even if remotely so.

"I hate it when you cry," he said, his lips buried into my hair at the back of my head. He turned me to face him in his lap and brushed my tears away. His cold fingers soothed my burning cheeks, so I pressed my face further into his hands.

"It's late," he said, lifting me to carry me over to the bed.

"Great," I grumbled. "It's almost dawn isn't it?"

"We have two hours left."

He put me on the bed, kicked off his boots and crept in next to me, pushing me toward the inside. I stared up at the ceiling blankly, digesting everything that had happened that night. The world I was in was dangerously dynamic. It changed in the blink of an eye and left you worse for wear. I was completely drained, but sleep was the last thing on my mind. I turned toward him and pressed my face against his neck, my nose coming up against his Adam's Apple.

Just as if he was human.

He pulled at his heavy coat away from my shoulders and I shifted so that he could get it off. He then pulled the blankets over us and started kissing my face. Not needing convincing, I started unbuttoning my pants. After kicking it off he held my chin and put us eye to eye.

"Are you sure you aren't too tired?" He asked.

"Edward," I clipped. "Are you kidding? Shut up and kiss me."

He brought his crooked smile down to my lips and opened my mouth with his. I all but dissolved into him. He was the only medicine for my sore heart. We undressed ourselves slowly and my burning body was soothed against his cold one. He pushed the clasp of Selenite under my pillow then lifted my leg to wrap around his waist. The moment he felt my hot center he groaned into my mouth and pushed his hip against me.

"God woman, I love you so much," he said, squeezing my pliant, hot flesh to him. "I've cursed myself to be with you but feeling you against me like this makes it all worth it."

"Edward....Alice said...."

"Ssshhh," he said putting his finger on my lip. "I know what Alice said. I heard it. We don't have to talk about that right now."

I nodded and pushed my fingers into his hair, bringing his face back toward mine. As his body temperature changed and his tongue softened in my mouth, he rolled himself on top of me, careful to keep his weight off. He pulled my knees up and pressed his hands to the back of my thighs, lining himself up with my eager opening.

But he didn't rush it. He liked hearing me scream in pleasure before my pleasure mixed with pain. So he rubbed himself against me, up and down, lathering my length and depth with my moisture. He rubbed up between my folds and down toward my core. He went up the slippery slope again and once he found the peak at the top, he pressed and created the most arousing kind of friction with his hard length. His movements were short and focused, centering on, over and under my reddened knob that I couldn't withhold the cry of desire that belted out.

He buried his face in my neck and quickened his pace. We connected like fire and ice. Our skin singed on contact. Some parts burned and his chill melted away completely under the fire. His erection was pointed up between us as he rubbed, pressing against my stomach, making me twist in all forms of ecstasy. I cried out over and over, getting as loud as I usually got, accustomed to the abandonment of our hideout. Then suddenly, I remembered the ultra sensory organs around the castle and I gasped out of my trance.

"Wha...wait...wai....uh! What abou....the others!"

His response was to go faster on me, drugging me with the sexual heat of our organs clashing together. My twitching, blood swollen clit was peaked and about to burst in ecstasy under the wet, steady contact.

He put me out of my misery by dragging himself downward, lining us up again. He then crossed my legs by my ankles and pushed my knees up against my shoulders. My butt was raised slightly off the bed. A slight draft blew over me and when I shuddered, he pushed his tip into me. That stole the chill away. My walls started clamoring and retaliating against the oncoming shoving. But I bid them to behave.

He started easing himself in. The stretching was always too much for me to undertake without cringing but he pressed his torso against my pushed back legs and kissed me. As usual, his tongue had a distracting, whetting element about it. Though I felt him thrusting in and out with the head, plunging itself deeper inside with every painful push, I held on to his tongue with my mouth and drank him in.

I gasped and sucked in a generous breath of air once he relaxed inside, very conscious of his length and width inside of me. His kisses grew light as he spewed out his pre-cum and made his wall against my womb. The calcifying agent felt cold as always, at first, but I held my breath throughout the entire ticklish process. It was over before I knew it and then he started thrusting.

It was next to impossible for me to rock my hips into him with my knees pinned back like that. He knew, and slid his hands down and under my ass cheeks, using his torso to hold my legs in place. With his hands holding my cheeks, he did the rocking for me. He raised my hips against his erection and pulled me against him as he pushed down into me.

My eyes widened and my brows pinned themselves together. I couldn't even scream. The feeling was overwhelming, hot and forceful, mind fucking amazing. He rocked me against him with his hands, bringing me to his rhythm. The longer he went and the deeper he thrust, the slipperier I got. I even felt myself draining out around him every time he pulled out far enough. I heard the impact and I felt his digging and once or twice I felt his head hit the wall on the inside, proving its importance in the first place.

Never once did I worry about another broken rib, or him shattering my wall and turning my insides to permanent stone. My body broke out into a lavish sweat and from what I could see, my skin was flaming red. He was still as white as stone and his twinkling eyes once silvery gray, was now black as night.

He drew my screams out when put one of his thumbs on my clit. After that, it was all uphill. He rocked me with one hand, pounded himself in and out and toyed with my moist clit with his other hand. My head tossed back into the pillows, spilling my air everywhere. He groaned out my name. I screamed out his. He told me he loved me. I screamed it back at him. Seconds later I was reaching my climax. The double sensation was near fatal. He pinched my clit lightly just he felt me tighten around him then repositioned his hand on my butt.

His thrusting got insanely fast, resembling violent vibration than actual thrusting. I screamed and I screamed, flushed red and dripping with sexual sweat.

With one last rocking thrust, he tightened his fingers into my flesh. Mine were clutching the pillow under my head. He pushed his erection upward inside of me. My walls tightened. My legs trembled. My core spurted and I screamed for the last time, squeezing my eyes shut.

He cried out the same time as me and I felt his explosion blast against the wall in my womb. Nothing was ever more completing.

It took subsequent yelps and mad gasps of air to replenish my body with oxygen.

I was still shuddering around him with my knees held up when he pulled himself out. He eased my legs down then, and crashed his lips to mine. While he distracted me with a deep kiss he inserted his fingers and groped for the wall. I felt it separate from my body. He was gentle and anytime I flinched we bit my lower lip or ran his tongue across my upper one. Soon enough he had the wall out, crumbled between his fingers, then tossed to the side.

Without hesitating he plunged down between my legs with his face and did the rest with his mouth, making sure I was cleaned out. I licked my lips devilishly as he sucked, my eyes rolling back into my head. Because my nerve endings were so sensitive by that point, and because he sucked a little longer than was necessary, my second orgasm was easy to attain.

He pulled the covers over me when it was over and scooped me up into his arms. He cradled my head with his hand and stroked the skin on my back, lulling me into a dreamless sleep. I wanted to stay awake because I wanted to see him go. Hell, I wanted to be outside to catch a glimpse of the entire host changing at the same time. That would have been a sight to end all sights. But he knew me and knew how stubborn I was, so I guessed that him putting me to sleep was the only way to ensure that I stayed inside.

He was patient with me as he stroked. He even hummed gently. And against my will, in the last few minutes before dawn, I fell asleep in his sturdy arms. Those arms which were warm just a while ago, were now regaining their chill and slowly but surely returning to stone.

* * *

A/N: OK, so I hope that made up for the cliffhanger last chapter...lol. Did I??

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	14. Chapter 13 Water Bed

A/N: Gah...this one was hard! No pun intended? lol! The Indies Awards are now open for voting everybody!! You can vote now! Please follow this link and vote for Set in Stone. It's in the category **Canon or AU story that knocks you off your feet**! Show Stoneward some love!! :)

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* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Water bed**

**Edward**

There was no making her understand. In fact, the understood, but she didn't care. At times I was confused by her devotion to me. I knew she loved me, but from my experience with love and from what I had witnessed over the years, there was always a point where self preservation played a part. Self preservation; it was supposed to be a basic human instinct. So far, in Isabella, it was non existent.

As much as I felt a lacerating pain in my chest when Carlisle gave us the option to send her back to Seattle, I wanted it. It would have been the hardest thing I'd ever done; harder even than holding myself back from saving the human lives I couldn't. But still I would have sent her away, knowing that she had a greater chance of surviving than if she had stayed with me.

Of course, she refused.

We couldn't force her to take that exit either. Our existence thrived on the principle of allowing human beings their free will. That was not ours to tamper with. It was their gift from God. Isabella knew that and she used it against us.

Tragedy.

I thought I knew tragedy over the years, having been a flawed Gargoyle that was riddled by bitterness and misfortune. I was wrong. Tragedy was the suffering that festered itself in Isabella. It was our love story that would never get the chance to blossom beyond the time we stole to be with each other. It was her breaking heart.

Centuries of love stories had taught me that the greatest ones always ended in tragedy. Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Cleopatra and Mark Anthony, Sir Lancelot and Guinevere, Cupid and Psyche; were only a few to prove that theory. They were some of the most moving, earth bending, epic love affairs and the price they all paid for the glory of their love, was loss.

For some ironic and sadistic reason, love went hand in hand with pain. You couldn't open yourself to the heights of love without making yourself vulnerable to the depths of pain. And perhaps, that is what made it so temptingly beautiful.

It was at the same time, the scariest thing I had ever experienced. I had lived for two hundred years, afraid of nothing, head strong and set in my ways. And all of a sudden I was petrified. Leaving Bella behind to grieve my passing put a gut wrenching fear into me. And the only thing that offered any real comfort, was the hypnosis option. I just had to make her understand.

I had fifteen minutes to myself after she had fallen asleep on the night the host had found us. After she fell asleep, I tucked her in, stared at her for a while, then wrote in the journal. The host left us alone. Some were off, marking the territory and the others were on the roof top, preparing for the sunrise. They'd have heard every detail of our love making, but with only a few days left to my life, there were greater things to worry about.

I can't say that I was anxious about facing my death. Dying wouldn't have been hard. I didn't know if it would hurt or what the procedure entailed. I had never cared enough to ask. The painful part was leaving loved ones behind; having to leave Bella. Worse than that was knowing the way she suffered because of it.

In my panic, I started thinking of ways we could manipulate the situation to make the hypnosis viable.

Rosalie could contest her right to hypnotize Bella against her free will on the grounds that Bella had discovered the bell tower. As much as we were long past that stage and that the host knew she was no threat to them, the reason could still be used as self defense. That was our one wild card with the power to override free will; self defense.

If Bella refused to agree to hypnosis, I was prepared to go to Rosalie and ask her to continue anyway with that as her reason. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have let Rosalie near Bella, especially if I knew that her intentions were harmful. But Carlisle spoke of the nature of Rosalie's hypnosis on taking Bella back to Seattle and it was not harmful. The host had come to an agreement with Rosalie about it and whereas I did not trust Rose, I trusted the host.

Bella didn't have to know. It would happen so fast she wouldn't have the time to blink. My reasons for wanting this may have been purely selfish, but by then I was past nobility. There was no way I was leaving Bella behind to suffer after me like Tanya had. There was no way I could live or die with myself knowing that she'd be damaged, wounded and yearning for something that was lost for ever. She didn't deserve that kind of pain. She had already lost so much when she lost her parents and had to flee her home town because the people there were more pitying than they were supportive.

In all honesty, and even though I hated to admit it, I couldn't help but relive the situation with Tanya every time I thought of Bella having to live without me. Life without me was Tanya's challenge and she took her life because she couldn't accept it. As much as I knew Bella was different, less self absorbed and stronger, I still couldn't kill the anxiety. It was like an automatic switch that kept going off in my head.

Hypnosis would prevent that kind of tragedy from happening. It offered ignorance and a life free of painful memories associated with me. It was the best gift I had to offer Bella at that point. My challenge however, was getting her to agree.

*****

After writing in my journal, I added more wood to the fire, tied the Selenite around her neck, kissed her and left. Waiting on the roof top was Jacob, Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle and Esme were speaking quietly to each other so I settled in next to Jacob. The others would have been on their way back.

"Not that I'm trying to make any of this harder for you..." Jake said, "but....losing you won't be easy on me either. I miss you already."

I draped my arm around his shoulders, hearing the gusts from the approaching wings of the others.

"I know," I said lowly, with a sigh. "The only thing hard about dying is the pain of knowing what I'll be leaving behind. You're like my brother, Jake, and even in death I will miss you too."

He lowered his eyes to the floor and nodded sadly.

"I never understood your plight," he said to the roof under our feet. "Or why you argued so much against the rules or our systems. To me it was so much easier to just accept and conform. Watching you suffer so lividly, was strange. I know it was different for you than the rest of us, but all the same, I didn't understand your fight. Now, I think I can actually relate."

I pulled his shoulder against me, and nodded at Alice and Jasper as they came in. Right behind them was Emmett and Rose. Rose had an abject expression on her face. It was odd on her. She was usually either bland or twisted with contention, but that morning, she seemed lost in thought. She didn't even scowl at me like she usually did. She actually ignored me and went quietly to her resting spot. I shrugged it off and looked back at Jacob. He continued to talk.

"For the first time I actually feel some kind of aversion to the Legion for what is about to happen to you."

"Be careful," I warned him softly. "You don't want to go down that route. It worked for me because I had an expiry date. I can't imagine what an eternity of aversion would do to_ you_. You still have forever to look forward to. Don't do it angrily. What's happening to me isn't unjust, Jake. It's just the way it is."

"It's unfair," he went on. "I've met Gargoyles that, in spite of the age of their stone or their abilities, will never be half the Gargoyle that you are. It's a terrible shame. You deserved better than this. Two hundred years? That's piteous. I can't believe I have to tell you good bye."

"You still have the others."

"None of them are you. You and I were always the pair, like Alice and Jasper are, Carlisle and Esme, Rose and Emmett. What am I going to do without you?"

"Live."

My skin started cracking then and I felt his shoulder open under my fingers. The sun came out and sliced across our skin, burning through our human facade and calling our animal spirits out. Our eyes turned, covering our pupils with a heavy film of grayish, white stone. Jake howled and I let go of his shoulder, allowing him the space to burst free. The wolf in him reared its head the same time the lion pounced out of me and a few seconds later, our molds hardened and we froze in place.

****

Around mid day I heard Bella wake up. It seemed like she had a nightmare because she awoke with a gasp and a racing heartbeat. She used the bathroom, brushed her teeth and bathed with the water I had been bringing to her room nightly. After drinking a cup of coffee and mumbling harsh cuss words under her breath at random intervals, she climbed onto the balcony through the window. She couldn't see us. I had chosen to stay next to Jake closer to the center of the roof. The rest of the host spread out but they all stayed toward the center where any person down below wouldn't be able to see by just looking up.

I knew Bella was looking for us. She couldn't go back to sleep especially if she had awaken with a nightmare. Before then she had slept through the day, everyday, and into the first few minutes after sunset. But I knew things would be different now that the rest of host was there with us. Her curiosity had a strange kind of power over her and like I knew it would, led her straight to the rooftop.

The host members grumbled internally when they realized she was climbing up. I noted however, that they didn't panic.

It took her twenty minutes just to find me and when she did, she was particularly crabby.

"Oh shut up," was the first thing she said to me. "I couldn't sleep okay, and I had to see you. I had a frickin' nightmare. It was awful. I woke up one night right here in the castle and you weren't here. Nobody was here. I was alone and you were gone and I didn't even know how to get out of the castle, far less than to get my ass on a plane back to Seattle. Where's Alice... I can't even remember which one she is. And who's the Fox over there next to the weird cat with the Eagle head?"

_Heaven help me with this woman....please. Alice is the Falcon, Bella. The Fox is Esme and the weird cat with the Eagle head is Carlisle._

"I remember this one," she said, pushing herself up the slope toward Jake and me.

_Fuck_, I grunted inwardly. _There's no rest with this girl. She's going to kill me right here and now if she falls off this roof._

"The wolf," she said with a heavy grunt as she planted her feet wide in the corners of two adjoining rafters. "He has to be Jake. The others would be paired off. They're couples. Though, that's not how I remembered it at the bell tower. Jake, the wolf."

_Bravo._

"I wish I could remember when Edward told me who was what."

_I wish you'd get the hell down and go back inside._

I heard a deep rumbling in Jake's chest then. It had to have been bountiful laughter because he definitely wasn't angry. I'd have known. I'd have sensed it.

Bella then reached up and touched Jake's foot. After stroking it for a while she moved her little hand over to mine and undid my aggravation.

"You're in a different spot today," she said to me. "It's not going to be easy hanging out with you in this spot. There's no where for me to sit, or stand even."

_Yes, Bella. That was intentional. But still, you made it up here._

"I'll be back," she said, and started groping her way below us across to the others.

_There she goes, on her merry way to piss them all off._

She pulled her body sideways across the slanted roof, jumping down into the valleys between the rafters then climbing her way up again. Only once did I hear resistance from a Gargoyle and it was Rosalie. Bella hadn't touched her the first time, but that day she decided to make up for that, apparently.

"I can't forget this one. Rosalie, the bat. It's much easier being around you when you're like this. And even though I know I'm probably going to pay for this tonight, I wondered what it would feel like to.....touch you."

She passed her hand over Rosalie's body then. I couldn't tell which part she touched because I couldn't see at that angle, but I heard everything. Rosalie's squeal of repugnance made me tense and Bella was right when she said that she'd pay for touching her that night.

"I wanted to ask you something, Rosalie," she went on, "but the only way I can ask is when you're like this. I won't have the courage otherwise. You can be pretty unapproachable. I know everyone can hear me, but still, I'm going to ask you anyway. Rosalie....please don't take my memory when I go back home."

_Ask all you want, baby. It's happening_.

"I can scream at Edward all I want and he will listen while he thinks it will shut me up for the while, but I know his heart and know how he feels. He will want this because he thinks it's safer for me. Girl to girl? I know I don't deserve to ask this of you and I know that we're not the best of friends.....but, I hope that can change. I never meant to make you uncomfortable....in the beginning I mean, with the bell tower and stuff. Anyways, the thing is, it's not only Edward I don't want to forget about. I actually don't want to forget about any you. My initial attraction to that bell tower wasn't about Edward, Rosalie. It was about you, all of you......Gargoyles. My eyes have been opened to this....incredible gift of nature and I don't ever want to lose that.

"A part of me has grown very attached to your world and your kind, and it would be horrible, just horrible to have that taken away. I know about the rules and about the whole exposure thing and that humans aren't supposed to know about your existence. But your secret is safe with me. I'd never tell a soul. I promise to die with it. I even learned about your pacts. How about we make one right now?"

_What?! Bella...what the hell do you think you're doing? Do I have to get tranquilizers to make sure your ass stays asleep all day? Is that what I'm going to have to resort to? Absolutely NO pacts! Now, more than ever, I want your little ass hypnotized! You're a danger onto yourself!_

"How about you agree to _not_ hypnotize me," she went on. "I go on with my life, keep your secret and become like a sort of ally to you guys. I don't know how, but I'm sure there's a way. The moment I break my promise and tell the secret, you're allowed to hypnotize me and wipe out everything. In fact....I give you free reign on how far you can go. Do whatever you want."

_I'm fucking dead. I know it. I've just died and this is hell_.

Rosalie's squealing stilled suddenly. She went quiet and observant like a predatory cat, observing and sniffing her prey. That was not good. Bella had gotten Rose's attention and no good could come of that.

"You have all day to think about it," Bella said with a saccharine tone, her fingers still grazing over Rosalie's stone surface. "This is between you and me. No one else has to get involved. It's _my_ free will and this is what I want to do with it."

_Free will or not, Isabella. You can't make the decision to keep your knowledge about Gargoyles because that right does not belong to you. It is forbidden. Rosalie, you had _better _not be considering this._

Bella found every Gargoyle on the roof, one by one and played with all of them. In fact, she played with me the least and that helped worsen my mood.

After nearly falling to her death about five times and pushing me to my internal limit every time, she miraculously called it quits and came back to me.

"Ok, Edward," she panted. "I'm going back inside now. I'm hungry and I need to use the bathroom. See you tonight. I love you."

Halfway down, she pushed her head back up.

"Oh, and before I forget. We can't wast time arguing about this tonight, okay? I know you're pissed and I have a good ass whopping coming my way but we need to spend our time wisely. I'll make it up to you with sex....oh, sorry guys," she said, raising an apologetic hand in the air. Of course, letting go with that one hand made her lose her grip and finally, she fell to the landing below. That fall had to be fate. It was just too fucking inevitable with all her prancing on the god forsaken roof.

"Fuuuck!" She screamed, landing with a loud crack.

_Yes, I know it now. I am in hell. I died twenty minutes ago and I am now in hell. Where's the fucking fire..._

The only bit of comfort in the whole scenario was that her screaming meant that she hadn't popped her neck or broken her back. She was still fucking alive. _I_ was royally pissed and dying in impatience. I needed the sunset and I needed it fast.

She started crying.

"I can't walk....I can't....Jesus.....I can't walk! OOOOWWWW!"

She howled on the balcony for ten minutes before the cold started getting to her. By the grace of God, she dragged herself across the floor toward the window and hauled herself inside.

"How many hours till Twilight," she gagged from inside the room. "Edward......"

I listened to her whimper and groan for hours, seething in anger and glaring at the sun. When she stopped fussing and had gone quiet I grew nervous, but kept my ears trained on her heart beat for any signs of shock. When the sun finally crawled under the horizon I broke out of my mold and fled the roof in a mad fury, not even bothering to dress myself. I was in through the window in less than a second, scooping her balled up figure off the cold floor from under the window frame. I put her on the rug right in front of the fire and started scouring her body for damage.

"Tell me where," I growled, snatching the Selenite from around her neck. I was both alarmed at the way she looked and angry with her for bringing this on herself. I pushed the Selenite away slightly, not too far out of reach just in case Rosalie got any ideas.

"Both ankles," she bit out, weakly. She was shaking, her face was ashen white and her lips were blue. The cold draft from the open window had chilled the room and the fire was almost out.

"Get more wood!" I demanded of the others who were culminated behind me already.

I took her ankles one at a time between my hard hands and fixed them, swearing through my teeth at the same time.

"You know I hate it when you climb up there, Bella," I snapped at her, between ankles. "Why won't you just listen to me?! What is it that just can't fucking wait until night fall?"

Her both ankles were fixed but she still didn't move.

"Somewhere else?" I said nervously, scanning her body with restless eyes. "Why aren't you moving. Why aren't you moving?!"

"I'm numb," she whispered with dead lips.

I shoved my hands into the fire and let the flames lick over my palms for some seconds. I then rubbed my warmed hands all over her. I touched her face, I enclosed her hands, I rubbed her arms and squeezed her feet. The heat seemed to help. She closed her eyes and groaned slightly. Still though, her body was frozen in one position on the floor.

"It's her hip," Carlisle said. I looked up at him sharply. Only Jacob was missing from the host, probably gone after the wood. "It's dislocated, " Carlisle continued.

Without talking, I took her hips in my hands and sent everything I had into her body. She winced slightly and bore her teeth, shutting her eyes tightly until the current subsided. After she let out a relieved sigh, I shoved my hands into the fire again and made the same path over her body with the heat. When her body went languid with relief and the color started creeping back into her lips and cheeks, I lifted her off the floor, picked up the Selenite and put her under the blankets on the bed.

"Rose, not now," I gritted out between clenched teeth, sensing her close behind me. The bat leaned over my shoulder then and stared directly into Bella's shaken eyes.

"Never, _ever._....touch me again," she bit out, menacingly. She then left the room. Bella let out a harsh breath of air and turned her face away. I saw the emotion in her eyes. She wanted to think that on some level she had gotten through to Rosalie and was disappointed when she realized how hard Rosalie actually was.

You could break the ice between two people, but breaking rock was next to impossible without heavy duty machinery.

"I have it under control," I said to the rest of them. They were all just standing there, staring. "Leave us."

"I'd like to talk to you when you have the time," Carlisle said.

"You're forgetting, Carlisle. I've run out of time. What I have left I'd like to give to this girl here, so please, let us be. I will come to you when she is asleep."

Jake bounded in through the window then with no less than twenty large logs across his back. He tossed a few in the fire, making the blaze grow then took the rest outside again.

One by one they started departing. Only Alice lingered behind.

"I'll just leave this here," she said quietly, resting my folded clothes on the armchair.

"Thank you, Alice," I said. She wanted to say more and I suspected that it was to Bella but she left quietly after that.

******

The only thing that could pacify Bella that night was sex. She was distraught by Rosalie's brash reception after daring to reach out to her. The fall had also stressed her out and my reprimanding her for it added to the damage. She didn't let me off the hook easily though. Not only did I have to repair her body, but she made me use sex to convince her that I was over my anger. She needed affection, attention and distraction and because she was emotional, she climaxed easily. Her complexion was a far cry from the deathly pallor I had found her with. She was bright again, rosy and flushed, her cheeks pooling with excited blood.

At midnight we stopped for a break, so I wrote some more. I had gotten eighteen years on paper when I decided to broach the dreaded topic of hypnosis. I had just written about an incident where Rosalie had to hypnotize a herd of lions in Africa to steer away from a sleeping group of camping scientists. During our stint in Africa, she religiously stalked the lions, trying to get into their psyches and learn how they operated and thought. She practiced on them nightly, hoping to get some insight into how she could get past the block in my mind.

She never broke through. I closed the heavy book at my side and faced Bella.

"There is something I want you to do for me," I said to her.

She read the dreadful expression on my face and started shaking her head immediately.

"I'm not agreeing to hypnosis, Edward," she answered.

"How did you even know I was going to talk about that?"

"You get that face when we're about to battle something with me, and right now the only thing we will disagree on is _that._"

"We have to talk about it, Isabella."

"Look, I know you think I won't be able to handle it. And yes, I will be devastated, but allow me the chance to prove myself first. And maybe, if I _can't _handle it after a while, Rosalie can step in. That's the only deal I'm willing to make with you. The host can monitor me after you're gone to see how I cope and if they're _oh so afraid_ of me dying of grief...then maybe I'll allow it, but not before then."

"I detest the idea of leaving you behind to mourn. It actually frightens me, do you know that? Nothing frightens me...not even my death. But this?"

"It's a part of life, Edward. I've grieved for my dead loved ones before. You won't be the first. I can handle this. I'm not as fragile as you think I am."

She had a point there. Perhaps, in my panic to protect her, I was treating her like a child. Essentially, that's what humans were to us....even in their adulthood they were like spoiled children left to run wildly and exploit the earth. We were their guardians and in a lot of ways that likened us to parental figures, so wanting to enforce a decision on Bella for her own good was not uncharacteristic. It was my nature.

"I know you're not fragile, deliciae, but that doesn't mean I don't worry about you," I responded.

"Don't worry so much. I am not Tanya, Edward" she said softly, training her eyes on the ceiling. The name twisted my gut and shot a pungent chemical into my mouth. I swallowed against the memory and listened to her continue.

"Alice tried using her to make me guilty. I'm not belittling her pain or anything. What Tanya went through sounded awful and I'm sorry to sound harsh about it, but I am not her. You can't put her actions on me and I shouldn't have to pay for something she did two hundred years ago. I don't know what state I'll be in when you're gone, but at least I'll have our memories. And that will give me strength to go on.

"Remembering your love and having this _incredible_ secret in my heart....Gargoyles that live and breathe and look after us? That will inspire me everyday. I don't want to lose that, Edward. I was telling the truth today up on the roof. I won't only be losing you through hypnosis. I'll be losing all of them. I don't want to. I like them....well, most of them anyway."

I contemplated it for a while, staring up at the ceiling; shifting back and forth between wanting to please her, understanding her and wanting to protect her. I even found the holes in the ceiling with my eyes, the ones I had put there by mistake, and twisted my mouth ruefully.

"On one condition," I said with a dejected sigh, after a long mental discourse.

"Name it."

"Do like you said, and allow the host to monitor you. Alice will agree to be your personal guardian but I want Carlisle close to you too, if he will agree to it. He is better at drawing on human emotions. At the first sign of your inability to cope, Bella, and if they don't like what they see when they look at you, I want Rose to do it."

She didn't answer.

"They will give you time, but I won't let them watch you deteriorate. I'm not even gone yet and I see the way you suffer, right here in front of my eyes. It's debilitating."

"Fine. I agree," she said stubbornly. "Can we change the topic now?"

"Well, if that's the case," I continued. "There's something I want to try first."

She turned her face and frowned at me.

"It has to do with your fear of the dark....and water."

Her right eyebrow arched and her eyes continued to search.

"I want to help you get over it," I answered her unasked question.

"Huh? How?"

"Have you seen the lake at the back of the castle?" I asked.

I heard her heart trip in her chest. She swallowed nervously and looked away."I guess."

"Well, there is a large bed of water back there and I....."

"Edward, I'm not going into that water." She opened her eyes wide and gaped at me incredulously pushing her body up on her elbows.

"Let me finish." I sat up next to her and cupped one side of her face with my palm.

"Remember, I was there on the night of your accident."

"Yes. So?"

"That night created your fear of darkness and claustrophobia."

"Uh huh...."

"I noticed that you've never been in water since then, except for the shower."

"What's your point?"

"You're afraid of water."

"Where are you going with all this?"

"When u go back to your life, you will have to readjust and fall into your old routine. Your nightmares may recur and your phobias will get worse, especially with new stress to deal with. Bella, I won't be around to help you or to...watch over you as I once did."

"Stop."

"Let me walk you through this. I can help you. Go into the water with me. Conquer your demons with me at your side."

"Out there???" She asked, pointing randomly with an extended arm and a harsh finger.

"Yes."

"But....that's only possible at night."

"Exactly. Black water. Your favorite."

"That's not funny."

I chuckled, but she didn't see the humor. "It's something I'd have wanted to do with you eventually anyway, and seeing that we have to cram everything into...."

"Will you stop making references to our deadline?! Fuck?! Sor...."

I pressed a finger to her lips and stopped the word from coming out. She actually smiled a little.

"...ry," she finished when I moved my finger away.

Was it out of character for a Gargoyle to roll his eyes? Because I did.

"Edward, I love you and all, and that's a really noble idea you have for me, but how is putting myself into a freezing cold lake, at night, going to help me? You're only going to make it worse. I'll die."

"Don't you trust me, Isabella?"

"Yes, but....."

"Then trust me."

She closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. I could hear her heart clamoring wildly in her chest. No doubt she was freaking herself out by just thinking about it.

"Trust me," I repeated, stroking her cheek gently with the pad of my thumb. She opened her eyes.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked after a few seconds of staring at me.

"All you need is to replace your bad memories associated with water, with good ones."

"And exactly what's _good_ about going into dark, cold water at night?"

"With me? Everything," I said to her, dropping my eyes to her lips. She had started biting into them nervously, and as cold as I was on the inside, something warm started culminating in my loins.

"Hypothermia," she whispered, worriedly.

"I can fix the temperature of the water. It won't be cold."

"You can do that?"

"Well, no. I can't, but Alice can. She can manipulate any element of nature. If she wants that water to be warm, it will obey her."

She exhaled sharply and glanced about, losing the battle to my persuasion. Her heart started its usual racket again, so I pressed my palm to her chest and begged the budging organ to quiet. That brought her eyes back to mine. They softened, though she was still frightened.

"When?" She asked softly.

"Now."

"N...N..._Now_?!"

I dashed off the bed suddenly, twirled her body in the sheets until she was wrapped in a tight, warm bundle and lifted her.

"Ed-ward!!"

I was sick of having everything be so sad all the time. We had a few light moments during our stay at the castle, but they were grossly outnumbered by the depressing ones. Even our love making was emotional. I wanted to see her smile again and even though I knew the first few minutes in the lake would be tense, I was determined to change that.

"What are you doing?!" She shrieked as I deposited her on the foot of the bed so that I could get dressed. She squirmed adorably in her cocoon of fabric.

"Do you want to always be afraid?" I asked when I was dressed.

"No, Edward," she shot back at me. "I don't always want to be afraid, but this is crazy!"

"No, it isn't. You want to know what's crazy?"

She just stared at me.

"Running away with a Gargoyle.....now_ that's_ crazy. Disappearing from your life, your job, school, your friends, _Blaaade_...."

"Ok! I get the picture," she cut me off. She squirmed inside of the sheet and blew her hair off her forehead in frustration. "You're not planning on dunking me in, are you? 'Cause that will just...."

I darted over to her and hushed her with a finger to her lips.

"Shush," I said. "You said you trusted me."

She answered me with a defeated sigh and nodded. I picked her up then and took her out onto the balcony. Alice appeared at once.

"I'll do it," Alice said, like a front line soldier in war, hungry for first blood.

"I haven't even asked you anything yet," I said to Alice.

"Yeah, yeah," she smiled. "What do you want me to do?"

I glanced up at the roof. Only Jasper was visible. He raised a hand at me and sent us a short wave.

"Where's Jake and the others?" I asked.

"Within earshot." Alice grinned mischievously. "You might as well throw privacy out the window. It doesn't exist. You should know that. But at least, for the while, the perimeter is safe."

The only thing she didn't so was stick her tongue out at me. She was teasing me about all the sex they had overheard. Bella was staring at Alice with wide eyes, her little heart pounding in my head.

"I"m taking you down now," I said, preparing Bella for lift off. Her arms tightened around my neck but she relaxed infinitesimally once we drifted off the floor. Alice was at my side. Bella was uncharacteristically quiet as we moved slowly toward the gleaming expanse of water. I almost grinned at her mute spell. She usually had a lot to say when I took her flying; a lot of _loud_ things. She didn't know how to shut up. That night however, she was as dumb as a post.

Putting all humor aside though, I wanted to be able to heal parts of Bella that my hands couldn't. It tormented me to no end that I couldn't drive away the physical pain she had developed in her chest, and my ego needed to be pacified for that.

Since arriving at Chambord Castle she seemed to be free of her nightmares but I knew it was only temporary. Her adventure with me was a huge distraction from her past, her memories and her life. Returning to her life however, meant returning to everything she left behind, including her demons and her nightmares.

My days as her guardian were over. I would no longer sit on her roof at night and listen to the sounds of her life. I would no longer follow her and act like her unseen bodyguard, wishing that she knew who I was; loving her from afar. My scribbles on her roof would one day fade and so would her dog's prompt howling at 7 o' clock, every night. I couldn't help her beyond the few days we had left, so I had to put everything into our time and make it fruitful.

When we landed on the grass by the water's edge she froze up in my arms. I held her close to me, knowing that I couldn't thaw the chill in her bones but still, I tried.

Alice stood next to us with her eyes on the water and her two hands on her hips. Her legs were apart and she looked like was about to face off with the lake.

"Make it nice and warm, Alice," I said.

She went down on her knees then, leaned over and dipped her fingers in the water. In the matter of seconds I could see and feel the steam rising off the surface. Bella gasped.

"Hot tub," Alice said with a smile, getting to her feet. She was still fighting the urge to tease us about our sex.

"How long will it stay like this?" I asked her.

"As long as you want it to."

"How far does it reach?"

"Ten feet across."

"Good. I'll call you when I'm ready," I said. "Thank you."

"Have fun." She grinned and swayed slightly from side to side, her hands clasped in the middle.

"Fun?" Bella scoffed. It was the first thing she had said since being outside. Alice winked at Bella quite suggestively, then darted away.

"So, it's warm," I said, setting Bella on her feet. She winced slightly when her bare feet touched the cold grass.

"Warm is only half the problem fixed," she squeaked. "It's still black and probably deep. I won't be able to see anything. Edward....I can't...."

She turned in to me. Her breathing got hampered and her heart went impossibly faster, her fingers curling into my shirt in panic.

I wrapped my arms around her, lifting her feet off the cold ground slightly. Every muscle in her body tightened and despite the cold, her pores opened.

"Baby," I whispered into her ear. "You are not alone. You don't need tosee anything. I'll hold on to you the entire time."

Still, she resisted and refused to move, pressing her forehead against me with vehemence. I felt her body start to shut down and I knew that if I didn't try to calm her down an anxiety attack would come on. I took her face between my hands and forced her face upward. She looked at me pleadingly, begging me with her watery eyes to stop. I died when I saw the live torture tearing her apart right there before me.

"Close your eyes, Bella," I said, searching for my own will to continue. She closed her eyes, indenting the space between her brows.

"What do you see?" I asked.

"Nothing....." she choked out, her breath coming in short, wheezing gasps.

"What do you feel?" I asked, stroking the sides of her face.

"Scared."

"Physically."

"You...I feel you."

"Where are my hands?"

"On my face."

"Where are they now?" I moved one hand down, across her shoulder then down her arm. She was still bundled in the covers, but she felt me. I moved my other hand to the small of her back and pressed her womb against me.

"On my arm and my back," she answered. Her eyebrows were flickering and the indentation between them deepened.

"Where are my legs?"

"Outside of mine."

"My chest?"

"On my breasts."

Her heart beat slowed down a little and she took a deep breath.

"Where is my breath?" I bent my head and exhaled softly against her neck.

"On my neck," she whispered, bending her head to the side and opening the length of her neck to me.

I bushed her hair away and kissed the spot, then ran the tip of my nose along the curve. Her heart jumped at my touch and the sound made me smile against her warm skin.

Slowly, her muscles yielded and the stiffness in her joints dissipated. She couldn't put her arms around me because they were tied down to her body inside of the sheet. I decided to help her. While I kissed her neck in the crisp night air, I opened the sheet at the back and started to unwrap her. She moaned slightly, turning her face inward in search of my lips. My cold tongue on her neck made her shiver and for an instant she flinched. The sheet fell from her naked body and dropped to her feet, allowing the coldness to invade her warmth. I felt the pores on her body stand under my fingers.

To distract her, I turned her face back to me and gave her the kiss she sought earlier. She pulled me toward her face harder with demanding fingers in my hair, taking the length of my tongue into her mouth, hungrily. I undressed.

Once naked, I wrapped my arms around her waist again and lifted us off the ground, placing her feet on top of mine. I moved over the water slowly and hovered there for a few seconds. The coldness was starting to affect her because she shuddered against me. I was glad for that because it meant she would need the warm water for comfort.

"You're cold," I said.

"Not like you," she answered, frosty mist blowing out through her nose and mouth.

"I can fix that," I answered, lowering our feet into the hot lake. When the water touched her ankles, she clamped up and her face dropped. I saw her fear of the water take over again, threatening to shut down her coping abilities. Her memories were vivid in her eyes, fighting her into submission. I grabbed her by the back of her head and crashed my mouth over hers, pushing my tongue into her mouth. A kiss was the only thing with the power to take her mind away from discomfort. It worked during sex and I prayed it would work for this too.

She responded to me by deepening the kiss. The thawing warmth of the water was also a plus and by the time we were in thigh deep, she was relaxing again. Waist deep, she stopped kissing and turned her head to look down at the water. I never loosened the hold with my other arm around her waist.

I went in lower still, using my wings to keep us suspended throughout. The tips of my wings grazed the top of the water and sent ripples around us. She didn't notice. The warm water crept slowly upward taking our torsos to completion. She closed her eyes and bit down on her jaw. When it crossed her breasts, she exhaled deeply, tightened her arms around my neck and wrapped her legs around my waist.

My perpetual erection was shoved between us, pressed between her pliant folds and against her womb. She seemed non the wiser at the moment, preoccupied by the anxiety of being in the dark water, even though the temperature should have been soothing.

She tried to control her anxiety by controlling her expression, but the betrayal of her frightened heart beat wildly against my chest. I pushed her further still by dropping a few inches deeper, bringing the water past her shoulders, up to her neck.

"No," she begged, raising her chin and squeezing her closed eyes tighter. She pushed out a wheezing gasp and shook her head frantically. "No! Higher!"

I readjusted and took us higher, elevating until the water level dropped down to her breasts again. My eyes dropped to her chest to admire the way the moonlight glossed over her pale mounds. It illuminated her wet skin and made her shimmer. The hot water made her smell intoxicating. Fuck, I even smelled her juicing, hot center through the water. I was going crazy with desire already, driven by carnal, sexual urges, but I knew she wasn't ready. Judging by the way her heart was still clamoring, I knew I had to be gentle.

Her teeth were grinding under the pressure of her snapped jaw and despite the hot water she started shaking again. I tightened my hold on her and put my forehead against hers.

"Don't think about it," I said softly. "Focus on me."

"But it's so dark...." she uttered, shaking her head with her eyes still closed. "I won't be able to see myself through the water."

"You already know what you look like. Why do you need to see yourself through the water?"

That made her open her eyes. She got my point. Cautiously, she turned her face outward and looked down. The moment she saw it, she snapped her eyes shut again and whipped her head back toward me.

"Let go of me," I told her.

She opened her eyes again and stared at me like I was crazy.

"I won't let you go, it's okay," I said smilingly.

She cooperated and loosened her grip around my neck.

"Try it. Put your hands in."

With her eyes held stringently on mine, she dipped her fingers in. When nothing bit them off, she dared to put her hands in up to her wrists.

"See?" I said.

She relaxed a little more and let her arms go right in.

"Don't panic," I said cautiously. "Just keep looking at me."

She swallowed and nodded. Every muscle in her neck was pulled tight. I held either side of her waist and very slowly, pushed her backward My hands slid down over her hips, over and under her thighs, where I held her against me. Her legs were still wrapped around me. She didn't panic and her eyes never deviated from mine.

"Lie back."

She lowered her shoulders until the back of her head was on the water. The black ripples bordered her face and the outline of her torso. My erection budged delightedly when her breasts came up and broke through the surface. The water spilled away from her fleshy mounds and encircled them at the base, making them bob deliciously on top of the water. They even glistened under the light from the sky, my mouth suddenly salivating with the urge to suckle.

She moved her arms in the water lightly, making swooping movements at her sides as if she were making angels in the sand or snow.

"It's so hot in here," she said. "Wow....it actually feels....good. Sooo good."

I rejoiced quietly. Her eyes were closed and she looked like the most beautiful version of peace. I stared at her, my heart swelling in my chest, awed at the slice of perfection I had hooked around me.

How could I not love her? How could anyone not love her? It was no wonder the rest of the host showed avid interest in wanting to save her. She had a spell inducing, ethereal quality about her that won you over; man or creature.

"Wait..." she said suddenly, opening her eyes and jerking her head up to look at me. "Did you and Alice just cook the fish in this lake?"

There was never a more random question to make me laugh in surprise. My belt of laughter surprised her and she brought her body back toward me.

"Don't laugh. That's a valid question."

"There are no fish right here," I answered once I had recovered. She looked minutely relieved. "However, thereare crocodiles."

"WHAT!!" Her eyes opened like two large saucers and she climbed higher up my torso with her legs, like a little monkey. She whipped her head toward the water and looked at it with the most horrified expression. "Edward! What the....!!!"

"I'm kidding!" I laughed out again. "You're so gullible!"

"And you're evil," she said, twisting her mouth with a snicker. "Be serious...tell me. Is there anything alive in this water?"

"Not anymore," I teased, only to be pounded in my chest by her fist. "Ok, alright! There are fish yes, but Alice only changed the temperature in a controlled area. Once the water started changing the fish swam away."

I pointed out to the border where the lake bended and continued on. "See, it goes on. The water will be normal out there. They are safe. Once Alice readjusts the temperature, they will come back. I promise, they weren't hurt."

Her eyes dropped to my mouth and her long eyelashes hid her brown orbs from me.

"Ok," she said with a smile, tightening her thighs suggestively around me.

"How do you feel?" I asked, stroking some wet strands of hair away from her cheeks.

"I'm not sure," she responded. "I'm still a little nervous but I'm okay. That's only because you're here though. I wouldn't be able to do this alone."

"Then, there's something else I want to try," I said smilingly, "since you're doing so well."

"Oh God, you're gonna push it now, aren't you? I should have said I was terrified."

"Stop whining."

She stuck her tongue out at me.

"I'm going to hold you tightly," I began cautiously, "and take us under."

"Oh, fuck no."

"Fuck yes," I said with a nod and a matter of fact tone.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, no. How do you say _no_ in Latin?"

"Bella..."

"Better yet, how do you say_ fuck_ in Latin?"

"Illiut Latine dici non potest," I said.

"All that means _fuck_?"

"No, silly."

"Then what?"

"It means, _you can't say that in Latin_."

"Bummer."

"Hold your breath."

"Edward, I said no."

"Listen to me," I said sharply, though my tone still reeked of humor. "If you insist on being a baby I'll put you up there on the bank as naked as a Jay bird and leave you to find your way into the castle on your own."

"You'd never do that." She laughed, rolling her eyes.

"No?"

Of course, I wouldn't, but what I _could_ do was plant an expression on my face so stony that it would make her wonder. And I saw it; the moment she second guessed herself, and me.

"But...I would freeze to death...."

"This would be so much easier if you'd just cooperate. Have I given you reason to mistrust me yet?"

"Yuh just did, Einstein."

"You knew I was kidding. Come on. We'll practice above water first. I promise it'll be fine."

"You're such a pain in the ass," she grumbled.

"And in your vagina, but you haven't been complaining."

She punched me again in my chest and winced, pulling back her hand sharply.

"Be careful you break your knuckles. Now close your eyes."

Finally, she obeyed, though with a pout. I kissed her protruding bottom lip and continued with my instructions.

"Hold your breath."

She did.

"For as long as you can."

I pressed our foreheads together. Her arms were wrapped around my neck and mine around her waist and back.

She let out the breath.

"Again."

We did that five or six times with our foreheads pressed together.

"We're going in," I warned. Her arms tightened and she squealed inside of her mouth until she was completely submerged. I opened my eyes under the water and though our heads were together I could see her mouth. After a few seconds I pulled her back up.

"Breathe."

She gasped for air and blinked frantically, brushing the water out of her eyes against her upper arm.

"Again."

She held her breath and nodded. This time I stayed under longer. When the air bubbles started escaping her nose and mouth I pulled her up again. We did that six times, each time staying longer than the time before.

"Remember, you don't need to see me. You only need to feel me."

On the seventh time, under the water, I took her hands from around my neck and pushed her away from me until we were two arms lengths apart, holding on with our hands. I looked at her. Her eyes were closed. She was tense. Her heart was frantic. She squeezed my hands desperately and I squeezed back. Responding to her under the water helped her. I saw her nod. Then she opened her eyes and all hell broke loose. She opened her mouth in a silent scream and I had to pull her against me and up. The moment we broke through the surface she threw herself on me and grabbed on, stifling the sobs that were choking her.

"It's ok," I shushed her, stroking the back of her head. "I'm here. Relax...it's only me. Listen to my voice and hold on to it."

Her body was shaking like a brittle leaf. She buried her face in my neck and let out her sobs, falling to pieces in my arms. My heart shattered. I threw my head back and closed my eyes, allowing her to let it all out.

"I'm sorry," I said.

She shook her head. "No..it's not you."

"Yes, I pushed you too far too soon."

"No...." She continued to shake her head into my neck. She pulled her face in front of mine then and wiped at her tears sloppily. "I'm sorry. I just...I saw her. I saw her again, down there...."

"Renee?"

She sighed and dropped her weight against me. "Yes. I'll do better next time, I promise."

"You did excellent," I said, rubbing her back. "Look, you're still in here and we've been here for a while. It's a huge step."

"Really?"

"Yes, deliciae, really."

I took her face in my hands then and did what I wanted to do since getting into that water. I kissed her with impassioned, sexual intent.

She crooned into my mouth and lined us up under the water without a moment's hesitation. My erection hurt with the way it wanted to explode. I grabbed and squeezed her ass cheeks under the water jamming her square against me. She raised and dropped her hips, sliding herself up and down my length, giving it a palpitating, under water massage. With a harsh shove, I ground her against me and made her bite into her lip seductively. I knew I wouldn't last long, not with the way I'd been holding myself back all along. My wings were at half mast, keeping us suspended in the water.

I put a hand between us then and pushed her shoulders back onto the surface. Her torso raised and her breasts broke through the surface, bouncing in front of my eyes. She tightened her thighs around me so that I could let go of her hips and take her breasts in my hands. I ran my thumbs over the peaks of her hardened nipples and made them harder. Her lips parted with a muffled groan.

Touching her wasn't enough. I had to have her in my mouth. I grabbed her by her hips then and shoved myself against her. When her back arched accordingly, I slid one arm under and pulled her chest up higher toward me. Her breasts danced with the water, the droplets glistening on her heated skin. I bent my head and took one nipple into my mouth. Her groan hardened me more in the water.

I sucked on one and then the other, sliding my tongue over, around and in between. Her fingers were in my hair, tugging demandingly.

"Edward," she gasped. "Do it to me..._please_."

With one last squeeze of her delectable flesh I took her hips in my hands again and pressed the head of my erection against her vacuum, dying to be sucked inside. Like always, she gasped in shock with the first thrust and her eyes shot open.

I took her hands in mine and intertwined our fingers, her back still on the water. She used her leg muscles to hold her in place. She pushed down on me and I pushed into her. She squeezed my hands and I gave her support, needing some myself. A few slow thrusts and I was inside. Her body was hot. It almost scalded me. I loved it. I knew I would be hot too having been in the water for a while.

I gave her my wall and she rode out the chilling sensation, until that too borrowed off her heat and transformed.

We were in sync after that. With every push inward, the water slapped around us and her breasts jerked joyously. They were a beautiful sight.

I rocked my hips into her over and over, slow at first, until her cries of discomfort turned into erotic acclamations. When she started responding with lustful fervor, I increased my pace. The heavy thrusting sent the water wild. Her breasts were jumping and the water around us got choppy.

I pulled her up so that she could hold on my shoulders. When she came up she raised her knees higher and locked her legs tighter.

"Replacing the bad memories with good," I said to her. She bit down on her lip and nodded ecstatically, creasing her forehead with a pleasurable frown.

I pumped myself in and out of her as fast as she could humanly take, making her bounce and scream and bob wildly on me. Her face was crimson red, both from our contact and from the heat of the water. She'd have been perspiring too but the water washed it all away. It washed everything away; her sweat, her moist ejaculation, her discomfort, her anxiety, her fears. During those moments of unbridled pleasure, everything was forgotten, save the love in our hearts and the insatiable need for each other.

I dropped my head back against the stony, retaining wall of the bank behind me and closed my eyes, on the edge of deleria. She was slippery and tight and she smelled like sex in the wild. The faster I went the louder she screamed. Her back started slapping against the water. The waves she created splashed everywhere. I had never seen her so soaking wet. She was drenched and flushed and clutching and screaming. The sound of her always got to me. There was nothing sexier than Bella screaming in ecstasy. It almost always made my erection harder inside of her.

As public as we were, we hardly cared. I knew there were no humans in the near vicinity, but surely, the Gargoyles would know. Not that that could stop me. I was almost at my climax. I took her butt cheeks in my hands again and ground her shamelessly against me, pushing myself higher and higher, deeper and deeper inside of her until I hit the wall with enough force to suck the air out of her lungs.

"Yessss!" She gasped. "Oh _yah_!"

"Kiss me," I demanded. She near growled as she came in for a greedy kiss, holding my wet hair by the roots. The tongue wrestling made us hotter. I bit her and she bit me. I sucked her bottom lip harshly into my mouth and she ran her tongue wickedly across my top one.

Our thrusting turned to frantic, rough vibrations. She couldn't kiss anymore. She dug her nails into my head, bowed hers and let out a shrill scream as she climaxed and tightened around me. When her vaginal walls tightened, the pressure made me explode inside of her. Our heads clashed.

"Edward!" She shrieked, dropping her head back.

"_Ba_by," I grunted, shuddering under the powerful spell of my orgasm and I emptied myself into her. We clutched on to each other as we rode it out, daring not to breathe or to even move.

When it was over, her body loosened and her legs slipped away from my waist heavily. I had to hold her up against me just so that she wouldn't sink.

"That definitely...." she said with a sigh and a lazy smile, "_definitely_ did some damage to my phobia. Wow, Edward...." She licked her lips and dropped her head onto my shoulder. "Just wow."

I took her lips again for a slow kiss. As discreetly as possible, I put my hand between us and touched her between her legs. She parted her thighs and let me insert my fingers. I had to lift her slightly to get good access. Removing the wall became like second nature to us and she no longer reacted in aversion to the sensation of something unnatural leaving her body. She didn't even flinch anymore. That comfort and trust made it easy to do what I had to do in order to restore her body to normalcy.

"I love you, Isabella Swan," I whispered to her as she lay on my shoulder, hugging me as best as she could.

"I love you too, Edward....er..."

"Masen," I said.

"Masen? You have a surname...."

"Well, it's my human surname. Gargoyles don't have surnames, we have host names."

"And what's your host name?"

"Cullen. We are the Cullen Host."

"I like the sound of that, Edward Cullen," she said. The water lapped softly around us, a more peaceful version to the riotous disturbance of before, and the steam continued to rise all off it's surface. She was comfortable and happy, and it was more than I could have hoped for.

That night marked the beginning of our last week together. The thought alone made me hold her tighter in silent, selfish rebellion.

One night down..... six more to go.

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A/N: **Reviews and voting for Stoneward will make him a very happy Gargoyle :) Please make Stoneward happy!**

Quick shout out to Mary! Whoot! Read teambella23's California Waiting and Revelry. They're in my favs. The writing is raw and honest. Only for the strong of heart...don't attempt if you're operating heavy machinery...lol!

Also, TKegl's Beyond Time...also in my favs. It's original and very sweet.

Much love to the whack pack!

**Review!**


	15. Chapter 14 The Princess and the Pea

**A/N: So today is Readers' Appreciation Day! I posted today to show my appreciation to you all! Happy RAD to you my beautiful readers :) Thank you for all your support.**

**Voting for the Indies ends in two days. Please vote for this story if you haven't yet! I need your support to push me to the next round! The category is Canon or AU that knocks you off your feet. Here's the link **

**http:/theindietwificawards(dot)com/vote(dot)aspx - Thank you again, and those to voted already *MUAH***

So, how about a break from the angst? I thought I'd make you laugh on RAD, so here goes. I hope you enjoy :o) It's a funny one.

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**Chapter 14 **

**The Princess and the Pea**

**Bella**

I lay on the bed on my side, with blank eyes, staring at the locked door. Comfort refused me. Peace of mind rejected me. Sleep wouldn't come. Death would have been better. The first night of my last week with Edward was over and no matter how brave I tried to be, I couldn't get past the life sucking ache in my chest.

It was just dawn. I begged him to stay in the bed with me. I didn't care if he turned to stone and broke the bed in the process. I just wanted him there, awake or at rest. But he refused. Whenever he got that pained look in his eyes, like he was dying under the weight of my pleas, I'd shut up and withdraw. I didn't want him to think I couldn't handle this, even if it was the truth. Him thinking that my grief was too overwhelming for me would only make him argue the hypnosis again. No matter what or how close to death my suffering for him brought me, I hated the idea of being hypnotised to forget him.

He would have no reason to leave me his journal if I couldn't remember, because how would I know what the journal was about, or who had wrote it? And I wanted that journal. I wanted his memory. I wanted every inkling in existence that would link me to him. After the pain of falling in love only to lose him, after all my tears, my fighting and determination to know him...I was owed at least that.

His good bye that morning was strained. I was fast losing the strength to hold up my brave facade in his presence. So much so that when he left me with a chaste kiss and returned to the roof, I froze up in emotion overload. Everything tried to rush out of me all at once, creating a bottle neck effect right at the edge of my reflexes; blocking it all from coming out. I literally shut down.

It even hurt too much to cry. I lay there with my bludgeoned eyes fastened to the door, noticing for the first time the way the handle curved like the letter "S". The room was lit only by the orange glow of the fireplace. All the windows were closed and concealed behind heavy blinds. Even over Edward's window, the blinds fell back in place and shut the morning out. I thought as I stared, needing somewhere to place the anger and hurt that gnawed at me day and night. Naturally, because Edward was the closest to my heart and because my entire story centered around him, the blame claimed him.

_Three years_, I thought. _Three years he knew me, watched me, followed me...loved me? But he never did anything about it. This could have gone so much differently. If only I had more time..._

_So, maybe I wouldn't have been able to stop it...it would have always been out of my hands, but still. I'd have had him for three years instead of one month. I won't know how to live without him now. I won't know how to sleep at night and live during the day. I won't know how to interact with people without looking for him in every person I meet. How will I do normal things like school and work...am I even still in school? Do I still have a job? Will I be arrested when I get back? Will I still have Angela? Will she hate me? Will Blade reject me?_

_How will I ever be able to live anywhere else but in the place where he wrote on the roof. No man will ever be able to touch me after this. No one will compare. No one will even get the chance to try. I will always be unfulfilled from here on out. This pain in my chest is a hole in my heart and it will gape inside of me for the rest of my life._

My eyes finally started drooping under the weight of sleep and little by little the light colored walls and the orange glow from the hearth faded to black.

I don't know how long I slept, but something was very wrong when I opened my eyes again. First, there was the poking in my ribs and a very strange...very, very strange voice in my ear. The next thing that hit me was a frumpy smell. It smelled like old socks and vinegar; but none of that prepared me for what was about to happen next. I blinked stupidly into the pasty, pudgy face of a woman with the most ghastly of frowns.

Then suddenly it hit me and I woke up immediately.

"Oh my God!" I shrieked, snapping my body upward. That was the first bad move. I miscalculated and smashed my forehead right into the pudgy chin of the pasty faced French maid. She howled when our faces clashed then started jabbering in mad French. I scooted off the bed, clutching the bed sheet to my naked, clammy body; my hair in the worse possible rendition of a Cuckoo's nest. The hysterical jabber that was coming out of her mouth was scaring the living daylights out of me. It had me completely flustered. My jaw dropped and my heart was beating like a panicked monkey.

"Vous etes qui?Vous etes qui? !"

Her eyes were wild and wide and the scowl on her face made a contrite mess of her already unattractive features. I also couldn't help but notice the lopsided and frayed auburn bun of hair on the top of her head. She was now properly red faced with anger and pointing at me with her half beaten duster.

"Shamu jeuer hofer fufu!"

"What?" I shrieked, darting my eyes around restlessly, thinking about Edward on the roof and wondering how the hell he didn't see this coming. "I speak English!"

"Lercroi voie voulez vous la la la!"

"I can't understand a thing you're saying! Oh fuck...fuck me...what am I going to do...EDWARD!"

I then made my second mistake. After her next bit of French assault which ended in an obvious "?", I used the only French word_ I_ knew to answer.

"Oui?"

Big mistake. Her eyes grew like they had just swallowed two Viagra, and she clenched her left fist at her side. She buckled her brows, pinned her lips together then started coming toward me.

"Oh fuck..." I muttered in panic, looking around for an escape. The only way out was through the open door since through the window meant being half naked out in the freezing cold. I nearly made a back flip over the arm of the arm chair with my backward stumbling, but somehow escaped it.

"Foo lala voo za za! Tut! Tut!" She screamed behind me.

"Get away from me you crazy witch!" I shrieked as I backed away hastily. She grabbed at her black skirt and tried to hike it up over her knee in preparedness to launch herself at me. I flipped out.

In a brash moment of panic I dove toward the coffee table for the coffee decanter and knocked everything else off the table in the process. One of her hands grabbed the sheet at my back. I got the decanter in hand and swung the metal contraption toward her face.

"Get your hands... off me!" Hot coffee spilled out the sides and cinched her forearm, just as the pot connected with her skull. She screamed in shock and let go of the sheet.

"Spumpka shi shu sha! Poof poof! Eeeeeee!"

"Will you just..." I stumbled to the side, holding the sheet up with one hand while holding the decanter out toward her like a weapon,"...let me explain! Just relax! Fuck-damn it! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I stomped my foot with each "sorry."

She kept cutting me off with her loud psycho babble and pointed her duster out in front of her in readiness for battle; facing off against my half filled decanter.

"Oh great..." I muttered. "A sword fight...only these aren't fucking swords, you moron!"

More babbling.

"You know...you're pretty dumb if by now you haven't realized I don't understand you."

"Loo loo loo...la la la...something something..."

I rolled my eyes and inched my way closer to the door, moving backward, keeping my eyes on her with the decanter held out firmly in front of me.

She started flailing her duster through the air then, pointing hysterically at all the random things I had in the room. She pointed at the food I had just knocked to the floor, my clothes hung on the back of the armchair, Edward's coat on the foot of the bed, the live fireplace, the open bathroom door...the journal. I eyed the journal nervously, wanting to run over to it and grab it before she or anyone else could get to it. She, however, was standing between me and the journal. There was no way I could get to it without going through her and as it stood, she was already more than twice my size.

She realized my distraction and used it against me, closing the gap between us by half. I sucked in a panicked breath of air and took off in the opposite direction through the open door, running blindly down the hall.

I had no idea where I was going, but there was a lot of open, wide space in the hallways. So, I ran.

I also squealed like mouse, glancing over my shoulder every few seconds to see the howling, Jello bat shrieking behind me.

"Fuck you're fast!" I shrieked. "Not good! This is not good! ED_WARRRRD_!"

The edges of the sheet were sailing behind me, sending the most inappropriate breezes up my cracks. Bending the corners in the hallways were tricky. I had to drop the decanter, slow down, grab the wall and swing my body around. And there were many corners.

"How many...fuck! Where...shit." I panted breathlessly, my eyes wild with fright. I didn't know what time of the day it was so I had no idea how soon I could get help from Edward. The crazy woman never gave up. She ran like a mad bull, getting angrier and angrier when I wasn't easy to catch.

"Something, something, La Police! La Police!"

My erratic heart dropped right into my stomach when I heard the word.

"What? The police? Please, NOOO!" I bended another corner and knocked a large clay vase off a pedestal. It smashed with an echoing crash when it fell. I glanced behind at the destruction as I fled. GI Jane spread her legs, swooped over the rubble and landed with a triumphant jiggle. She still had her duster in her hand.

"What the fuck!" I bit out in horror. That woman meant business. I was a trespasser in her castle, on _her_ shift and she was not about to let me get away with it. How dare I think myself worthy of sleeping in a princess's bed, in a castle?

She ranted and yelled and cursed behind me as we ran, never losing pace, never losing her breath, never giving up. I ran smack into a gate. The force of the impact swung it open and I almost tripped on the sheet as I somersaulted through the narrow space. Like a graceless cat, I landed on my feet, skid a bit, but was able to keep on running. The hallway opened into large semi circular area with dozens of closed doors. I then saw a wide staircase leading down to the floor below. I glanced back again. Everything in my vision vibrated as I ran.

'La Femme Nikita' bulldozed through the gate behind me, duster held above head, bun bouncing up and down, hair all over the place, eyes wide and pissed, teeth bared...the poor gate never stood a chance. It broke right off the hinges with the force at which she went tunneling through. I gasped, dug my fingers into the sheet and started my rapid decent down the carpeted stairs.

"Holy shit... I'm going to die! This bitch looks hungry!"

As carpeted at the steps were, I still heard her booming stomping coming down behind me. At the bottom, I swung left and went through an open archway into a enormous living room. In spite of my hysteria, the beauty and exquisite class of the furnishings still made itself apparent to me. I snatched something that looked like a very expensive china vase and spun around to face her, barely holding the sheet up anymore with one hand.

She tumbled to a stop and her two arms shot up in the air. For a second it looked like she was worshipping the thing I was holding above head.

"I'll smash it!" I threatened. "Come any closer and I'll smash it to shit! It looks expensive and they'll have to take it out of your paycheck!"

She narrowed her eyes at me and huffed through her nose so hard her nostrils flared...ever the image of a bull. All she didn't do was drag one foot backward against the floor.

I backed away, one slow, shaky step at a time, trembling immensely, perspiring, flushed...frightened.

"I'm not dangerous," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "I know I shouldn't be here, but I'm not dangerous. Please...no police."

She understood my last two words only.

"Oui! Oui, la police...za za bcae hfouefa bfhoeao!"

"Fuck! I don't understand you when you do that! Shut up!"

"Bla bla bla...bla."

Her fingers curled around the duster in her hand, making her knuckles go white. How exactly did she plan on using that thing anyway? In the blink of eye, she leaped toward me. I snapped, tossed the vase into the air and darted away. From the corner of my eye, I saw her dive wide to the side to catch the vase. I lost sight of her after that because I took off through a second archway and went careening through another set of mazed halls. Her voice was an echo in the back. For a while it seemed like I was getting away, like I had caught her off guard; like I could lose her.

I found another flight of stairs. I took it two steps at a time, hiking the sheet as far up as I could to avoid tripping. Still I had no clue about where I was going. I was just trying to lose the "crazy" behind me. I'd never be able to find my way back to the room but I couldn't go back anyway now that I was discovered. They would have the room excavated and change the locks. Not that I needed the door for entry anyway. Edward had taken me through the window...but I'd surely need a bed, at least. No sooner had I thought it, than I heard her bellowing voice behind me again.

"Persistent bitch!" I shrieked. I swung right, headed down another corridor and came upon two doors. Running like a wild hyena, I had to make a choice; the blue door or the green door. My eyes shifted frantically between them both as I neared. There was nowhere else to go. It was essentially at a dead end. I had to choose a door.

Her voice got louder. She was closing the gap between us. My hasty feet slowed. My eyes went back and forth; back and forth, left to right, blue or green...blue or green.

"Voila!"

She grabbed a handful of the sheet at the small of my back and pulled. I grabbed the door knob on the blue door and pushed. It opened. I pulled away from her clutch, my finger nails bending back from the tugging. I flinched. The next thing I knew, the sheet was being pulled off of me. I catapulted into a kitchen of huge hanging pots and pans and one very stunned cook. He widened his eyes when he saw me, naked as a newborn, flying through his kitchen. I gasped and stuck a covering hand over my exposed tuft. My other arm shot up to cover my bouncing breasts. The bitch still kept coming at me. I had no choice but to keep running!

I was inflamed with every possible kind of fury by that point and five hundred percent humiliated. My bare ass jumped behind me as I ran, one cheek up, one down every time my heels crashed to the floor and slapped against the tiles. I burst through some double doors then, using my shoulders as leverage. Maybe I should have stopped. I knew I was already caught and that sooner or later I would be cornered or snatched. I also knew that running was essentially making things worse for me, but I refused to make it easy on Bond, Jane Bond, behind me there.

"La bottom! La bottom!" She screamed as I stumbled upon a group of tourists in the middle of a castle tour.

"Just great!" I screamed out sarcastically, my face as flushed as a cherry. "_That _word you know! Bottom!"

The tourist scattered and shrieked when they saw me. Some grabbed their husbands, some slapped their hands over their children's eyes, and others laughed in shock._ Everyone_ avoided physical contact with me. They backed away like I was the plague.

"I _LOVE _the French!" A man shouted as I made my way through the group.

"I am not French, _asshole_!" I screamed as I pelted away.

People were everywhere all of a sudden. There were about three or four groups of tourists heading to different parts of the castle and they all shrieked and scattered when they saw me. Thank goodness for the adrenaline rushing through me or else I'd have died right there on spot from a heart attack.

"Sorry!" I yelled, making my way around and through. I bumped into a middle aged man with his hands just conveniently prepared to grab my ass as we collided. I cursed and pushed him off. He fell back onto his little wife and they both fell to the floor.

"Sorry!"

Alas, I swung my body around just in time to see the guard I was about to run into. He did not hesitate to grab me. His arms were strong. Jelly Bat was still shrieking French absurdities at me as she caught up to us. I squirmed in the man's arms, failing against his strength. I yelled and shouted and fought and kicked my legs. He only tightened his arms. He too was shouting in French. There was noise everywhere. The place broke out into chaos. Tourists were shouting, children were crying, men were laughing and suddenly from nowhere, a team of staff members appeared. My sheet was thrown over my head then and at least five pairs of hands grabbed on to me to restrain me.

"Let me go! NO! I won't GO! Fuck! Edward! Edward! Edward!"

I was wrapped in the sheet from head to toe and slung over someone's shoulder. I couldn't see but I knew we were moving. As we moved, the loud din got progressively more distant. There were voices moving alongside me probably all wondering what the hell was going on and who the hell I was. Of course, 'Xena, Warrior Princess' was louder than all the rest, shrieking and ranting in her aggravated French accent.

I was deposited into a chair and I heard a door slam shut. As fast as I could manage I tugged at the sheet until I freed my head. Once out, I blew the frazzled hair out of my face with three puffs and gaped about me, wide eyed and anxious. There were three men and two women before me in a room that looked like an office. I crinkled my nose at 'She-Ra' who tapped her foot on the floor and folded her arms.

"Pfft!" She intoned, exasperatedly. She looked an awful mess. She was panting like a thirsty dog and her hair looked possibly worse than mine. Her face was red and her forehead was creased into a mighty scowl.

The guard that had carried me was standing by the door with his arms folded and his legs spread.

One of the men in front of me with a side part and a comb over tugged at the hem of his suit jacket and said something to me.

I shook my head and swallowed.

"I speak English," I mumbled.

He picked up the receiver off the desk then, dialed a number and glanced at me as he waited for an answer. In the meanwhile, I looked at each one of my restrainers in turn. Not one of their faces looked friendly or able of compassion. The man on the phone rambled on, then nodded at one of the women.

The woman said something to my 'Wonder Woman'. Wonder Woman shook her head, pointed at me and answered. Her hand gestures were frantic as she spoke and I guessed that she was retelling the story as it happened.

"Hey, that's not fair," I spoke up. They all snapped their heads toward me. "You're only getting one side of the story...who's gonna listen to me? Can none of you speak English?"

What _was_ my side of the story anyway? In fact, it worked in my favor that they couldn't understand me. It gave me time to conjure an alibi or some kind of explanation for my being in that place.

'Buffy, the American trespassing girl Slayer', started rambling on again. She made one too many offensive hand gestures in my direction and every time she glanced at me, I stuck my tongue out at her.

_Well,_ I thought. _Seeing as I am screwed, I might at least have fun with it. Edward...forget the fucking Legion._ I_ am going to kill you. How the hell did you not pick up on their planning a check today?_

A few minutes later the door opened and another man walked in. He was short, skinny and wore a bright blue suit. My eyes widened at the shade of blue. It was almost the same color as his eyes. He was much younger than the rest of farts in the room, however. His hair was blond and spiky, his nose was straight and sharp and when he noticed me, he smiled in amusement and his eyes twinkled. A ball of hyper energy played off of him. His movements were quick and when he walked, he bounced. Altogether, he looked like a combustible, ass kicking, cartoon character. Sonic the Hedgehog came to mind. I almost giggled.

He exchanged a few words with the others and I noticed that when he talked to Barbarella, she blushed slightly.

"Merci, Victoria," he said in a thick French accent, before turning to me. "Your name, mees?"

"Oh, so you're the translator?"

"Oui, I can translate. Vat ees your name?"

"Isabella," I answered, dreading that the time for explanation had come. I still didn't have a proper alibi, because there was none. No reason was good enough for breaking and entering. No lie would get me off the hook. What they wanted to know was just how much trouble they could get me in and how bad of a fine they could slap me with. My answers would only fan the fire. I had to stall as best as I could. I knew that when the sun set Edward would come for me and they would not be able to keep me from him.

"Isabella, what?"

"What, _what_?"

"Seername."

"Oh! Surname! Um...Cullen," I said, remembering the Host name. "Isabella Cullen."

One of the women started taking notes. I glanced at her, she looked at me. I turned back to Sonic the Hedgehog.

"I am James," he said.

"Well hullooo, James," I answered, cheekily. As much as he seemed amused before, my attitude started to tick him off and he got irritated with me.

"You are een a lot eff trouble," he said, twitching his mouth. His blue eyes twinkled again, and again it brought my attention to his bright suit. It had to have been some kind of European fashion? Was blinding, eye puncturing blue in style?

I shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't?" He asked condescendingly. He even chuckled and looked over at the rest. He said something to them in French. They scoffed.

"What are you doing here Mees Cullen?"

_Ok, time to stall_, I thought.

"What on earth do you mean? I live here!" I answered, widening my eyes as large as his. "What are_ you_ doing here?" I asked.

He shook his head and sat back against the edge of the desk, folding his arms across his chest.

"You do not live here Mees Cullen." He said flatly. It was hard to understand his English. His accent was thick and he made lots of throaty sounds.

"What is the meaning of this?" I asked, raising my chin and closing my eyes, dying of embarrassment on the inside. I was praying for a miracle in that the sun would set and Edward would come and save me. Stalling so far, wasn't going very well. I sounded like a deranged idiot and if the sun didn't set soon Edward would have to go looking for me in a mental hospital instead of in jail. At that thought, I perked up one eyebrow and smiled to myself.

_Anything would be better than jail_, I thought. _Mental hospital, here I come!_

"What is the meaning of what?" James reprimanded me.

"Listen to me and you listen to me well," I said, leaning forward slightly and closing my eyes. "I am a Princess and I shall have you all arrested for trespassing in my castle."

When I opened my eyes again, he was livid.

"You are teasing me?" He asked. Then he let out a clipped, harsh laugh and gestured to the others. He said something in French. They all shifted in their positions and started murmuring among themselves.

"What is the time please?" I asked.

Sonic the Hedgehog glanced at his watch and turned back to me. "Cinq. Five o' clock."

"Thank heavens!" I exclaimed. "It's evening! My Gargoyle will come soon and rescue me!"

He frowned, aghast and shook his head.

"Mees Cullen, right now as we speak, we have personnel searching through the room that you have abducted, searching for any stolen items."

"Well, if they're stolen they're obviously not going to find them," I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

He ignored me.

"They are also looking for any information they can find on you."

That got me nervous. My purse was up there and it had my credit card in it. You could find out a lot about a person with their credit card. I also didn't want them confiscating Edward's journal. James saw the discomfort that flickered across my face and smiled contentedly. He shifted between cynical, sadistic amusement and aggravation a lot. As small as he was, I knew he was a force to contend with.

"Are you ready to speak now?" He asked one eyebrow cocked.

"About?"

"Where did you come from? And what were you doing in that bedroom?"

"I told you before," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "I am a Princess."

"You are a Princess..." he muttered, passing a hand over his face. Suddenly, a story I had known from my childhood came back to mind; _The Princess and the Pea_. I used to love that story and I had made Charlie read it to me over and over. My situation started to play out very much like the Princess's in that story, except...I was naked...and trespassing...and I wasn't a princess.

"Yes," I answered, closing the sheet around me tighter. "A real princess."

"Are you on zee drugs?" He asked, gesturing lazily with one hand toward me.

"Zee drugs?"

"Oui...Are you intoxicated?"

I gasped pretentiously and held a hand to my heart as if I was deeply offended.

"How _dare _you talk to a princess that way?" I then turned to my "BFF" French maid and pointed. "You! Off with his head!"

Of course, she didn't understand me, but nonetheless she looked pissed that I had acknowledged her. She started to argue, but James raised his hand and silenced her. She shut up immediately. Her eyes even softened on him and she blushed when they got eye contact. It was so obvious that she had eyes for him. It didn't work in her favor however that she was grossly overweight, at least twice his size, taller than him and needed to shave her legs.

Mine needed shaving too, but who was keeping score?

"Mees Cullen..."

"I am I tell you! I am, I am, I am a real princess."

"That ees it. I am calling le police."

"Wait!" I shrieked, sticking one arm through the sheet. He sighed and raised his eyebrows at me.

"What?"

"I can prove it."

"You can prove WHAT?"

I gulped and licked my lips nervously.

"I can prove that I am a real princess."

"Vat are you talking about? You are silly American girl, naked and trespassing. Victoria here told me that you stole items from upstairs, so that also make you a burglar!" He said, pointing to my "BFF."

"What? I didn't steal anything! She's lying!" I turned to her and pointed. "You're a big FAT liar!"

She narrowed her beady eyes at me. James spoke up again.

"She asked you if you stole anything from the room and you told her yes."

"When did I _ever _say...oh."

It seemed that my one word of French "Oui," had gotten me into trouble. I remembered when she had asked me something and stupidly, I had said "Oui."

"Oh?" James ridiculed. "Did you not say zat to her?"

"Well...I did but...I didn't know what she was asking me. That's not fair. I need my one phone call. I need to call my lawyer."

"You vill phone your lawyer from jail..."

"Jail? Wait...you know..." Things were getting scary, "...we can solve all of this, if ...um..."

I needed to stall. I just need half hour or so and the sun would be gone.

_Stall Bella, stall._

"If...um..."

"If VAT?"

"If you get me...a pea."

"A pea?"

I nodded with a noble chin and closed me eyes.

"Send for a pea." I demanded with a royal tone, my chin in the air and my eyes closed.

A pea?" He repeated.

"You know? Black eyed peas...Green peas...Lentil peas...even a Red Bean would do..."

"Why are you talking about peas when you are in so much trouble?" His temper was beginning to show. "I zink you are crazy!"

"Look," I said in a matter of fact tone. "If you give me the pea and one hundred mattresses, I can prove to you that I am a real princess."

"Argh!"

"Well," I continued. "We put the pea at the bottom of the mattresses and I climb all the way up to the top. If I am a princess I will feel the pea through all one hundred mattresses and I won't be able to sleep. It will prick me all night long! It will be just awful! I will even have black and blue marks on my ass to prove it! If I am lying, there will be no marks on my body because I won't be able to feel the pea and..."

"SILENCE!"

Every body in the room jumped.

"NOT VONE MORE VORD!"

I think I swallowed my tongue right then.

"I have a twelve year old daughter,_ Mademoiselle_," James sneered at me. "I know zat story you... you imbecile! You are an imbecile!"

"Errrr..."

"I said HUSH!"

"Ok."

He grabbed up the receiver then and made another call, muttering harsh French syllables under his breath. I was really in trouble in now. It was even scarier because when they all talked together I didn't understand them. I was bound to that chair with no escape, save for the setting sun, and a build up of anxiety that could put down a horse.

"The police are on their way," James said to me after he hung up. "If you won't tell me your story, maybe you will tell them. Where are your papers?"

"..."

"Where are your papers, Mees Cullen?"

"Oh, so I'm allowed to speak again?"

He sighed and clasped his hands in front of him.

"I don't have any."

"Vat do you mean you don't have any?"

"Why do you keep asking me what do I mean? I'm not speaking gibberish. I said I don't have any and it means just that."

"Leave us," he said to the rest, waving them all toward the door. I watched as they filed out one at a time, each sparing a moment or two to shoot me a disparaging glare on their way. When we were alone in the office, he folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at me. He was still sitting on the edge of the desk with his legs crossed.

"By the way?" I said to him. "You do know that she has the hots for you right? Are you two a thing?"

He frowned and raised his eyebrows at the same time.

"Who?"

"Oh come on, Wonder Woman...big, red haired, broad with the duster."

"Her name is Mees Victoria."

"Yes, Mees Victoria. She has the hots for you."

He tried to hide it, but there was a moment of hesitation on his face where he did a double take and actually considered it. He shrugged it off and concentrated his frown again. When he opened his mouth to continue reprimanding me, I interrupted.

"I'm serious. What? Are you intimidated because she's bigger than you? Nah..." I said, bending my lips down and shaking my head. "She could be quite the ride...if you know what I mean."

I winked at him. "She certainly has a _lot _of energy. And she's pretty agile...fast...nimble," I said, emphasizing the "m".

He didn't respond. After that we did the stare off thing for a few minutes. He was trying to intimidate me, but what he didn't know was that I was getting out of there in a Gargoyle's arms. Even in the cops arrived first and took me away, they wouldn't be able to keep me. I knew Edward. He had a few more days left to live, so absolutely nothing mattered to him anymore besides me. What_ did_ make me restless was the scene that would play down when he showed up. He was at the end of his tether and very easily aggravated. If James and his posse knew what was good for them, they'd get out of his way.

Fifteen minutes later the police arrived. I kept asking James the time and he kept ignoring me. He was pacing the floor and doing all sorts of jumpy, irritable things. Just when the police walked in, so did Victoria and another maid with all the things from the bedroom. My clothes, the journal, shoes, purse, food, toothbrush...and everything else that Edward put in there for me.

They went through my purse right in front of my eyes, never even bothering to ask my permission. I watched everything and waited patiently, getting more and more anxious by the minute. The police didn't talk to me directly, they spoke to James and Victoria and another castle official.

"What time is it?" I asked again, but James ignored me. I glanced back at the door. There were no windows in that room so I couldn't see outside.

Victoria walked up to me indignantly, dumped my clothes in my lap then pointed to a small adjoining door. I squinted at her and got up as she very rudely suggested then followed her to the door. When I walked into the little restroom she slammed the door behind me and dropped her heavy weight against it. I heard the thud on the other side.

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Come on Edward," I whispered. "Please get here soon. I don't know if I can hold out much longer."

As slowly as possible, I put on my bra and underwear. An idea suddenly occurred to me. I uncovered the toilet seat, dropped my underwear again and sat. They couldn't haul me off the toilet for crying out out loud. Five minutes later there was a loud banging on the door. Victoria opened the door and stuck her red head inside. I shrugged my shoulders and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Pfft!" She intoned and slammed the door again.

Ten minutes later she opened the door again. I bent over an grabbed my stomach and started to groan.

"Uuuuuuuhhhhhhh," I grimaced, raising a distressed face to her. "It's awwwwful."

"Pfft!" And she slammed the door again.

I sat up straight and bounced my heels off the floor, breaking out into a sweat, nervous and impatient.

Suddenly the door swung open and made me jump.

"Alice!" I squealed, jumping off the seat to throw myself against her. She hugged me lightly then set me away from her. "Oh my sweet heaven! I've never been happier to see your face!"

"Bella, please put your clothes on."

"Where's Edward?" I shrieked, hurrying into my clothes.

"Hurry up."

I ran out of the room behind her and spotted him immediately. He was standing next to Rosalie. The three police officers, James and Victoria were all standing with their backs pinned to the wall. Rosalie was whispering something under her breath and staring at them. They all stared back at her in a very obvious trance.

Edward turned to me and held out his arm. I ran to him and threw my arms around his neck.

"Thank you," I said.

"I'm sorry. It was not a routine check and she only spoke of her intentions to go by your room today. It was already too late for me to warn you."

"Sshhhh," Rosalie hissed, then turned back to her task.

"What is she doing?" I whispered to Edward.

"Giving them a new memory. Let 's go."

"Won't she be in trouble for that?"

"Are you complaining?"

"No sir," I answered quickly.

"We should leave now before more arrive," Alice said to us, taking my hand.

"Go with Alice now."

"Why aren't you coming?" I asked, confused.

"I will stay with Rose to make sure this is cleaned up. Go, I will be there shortly."

I nodded and Alice lifted me against her.

"This is weird," I grunted, just as she cradled my head against her shoulder. "Wait! Can I do one thing before I go?"

"What," Alice said, putting me on my feet again. I ran up to James and slapped him hard across the face.

"That's for calling me an imbecile, _Sonic the Hedgehog_."

"Bella!" Alice screamed.

"I can't work like this," Rosalie mumbled, shaking her head disgruntedly.

"Bella, leave now," Edward warned, pulling me away from an entranced James.

"He didn't even feel it, look at him," I said in utter disappointment.

Before I could say or do anything else Alice hauled me off my feet again and darted out through the door with me in tow.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed. The EPOV outtake for this chapter is on my profile. What goes through his mind while Bella is flying butt naked through the castle? Read it to find out...**

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	16. Chapter 15 Hope

A/N: Hey guys...do I hear a sigh of relief? lol! Sorry for being late with this. Thanks for all the support with this story and for your votes in the Indies. The final list isn't up yet, and I don't know if I made it, but whether or not it was fun and I intend to enter many more contests. I hope you will continue to support me!

So last chapter was funny. Thanks for all the appreciative reviews. I am working on an outtake for the EPOV while Bella was running butt naked through the castle. So put me on author alert so that you'll know when it goes up. I also just posted this story on TWCS. I have the same alias over there so it will be easy to find me. Please support me there too by favoriting me :)

Not long to go again with this story. I know you guys are scared and sad and worried about the ending. All I have to say is stick with it and I hope I don't disappoint! Love to everybody and Happy Reading!

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**Chapter 15**

**Hope**

**Bella**

"I'm ok, Alice. You can put me down now."

When she set me down on my feet, I turned to find the entire host staring at me. Jake was giggling and snickering at one end and Jasper had to elbow him in his ribs for him to stop. I knew they would have heard everything as it happened, but I found myself wondering right then if they had seen any of it. The mental picture of me running through the castle, butt naked with the spawn of the anti-Christ chasing me wasn't exactly something to boast about. I still wasn't clear as to how their abilities or gifts worked and how far it extended, but I winced at the thought of them seeing the madness as it unfolded.

"You've had quite an afternoon," Carlisle said. "Are you ok?"

"I'm a bit traumatized, but fine, yes." I said, thankful that Alice had made me put my clothes on before bringing me back to the room. "I'm not sure if I should be back in here though."

"Rose will make it so that they won't know they found anything in here today," Carlisle said.

"Oh my God, the journal!" I gasped, slapping my hands over my mouth. I turned to Alice with worried eyes and she pursed her lips.

"I'm sure Edward won't leave it behind," she said, her gray eyes twinkling.

"We shouldn't be in here in the first place," Emmett grumbled, turning his back to us. "It's turned into a circus show. I cringe to think what will happen next."

"It's just one more week, Emmett," Esme said, shooting me a sideways glance. "We can be patient. After that it will be quiet."

I couldn't help but feel like an inconvenience at that point, and I just had to say something in my defense. I knew that I had brought it all on myself by choosing to pursue Edward and by throwing myself into this adventure with him, but at the same time, the Host didn't have to find themselves in the middle of it either. That was_ their_ choice.

"As much as I can acknowledge that your being here for Edward's sake is noble, Emmett, we didn't ask for it. We were content to go through this on our own....circus show and all."

He faced me then, his eyes glowering under his thick brow. "You have quite a mouth on you, little one. You better be careful with that. I'd hate to have to staple it shut for your own well being."

"I've dealt with the repercussions of my tongue all my life and I will continue to do so, thank you very much. I haven't asked for your intervention on _my_ behalf, yet."

"You're beginning to sound ungrateful," he said, taking a heavy step toward me. His eyes darkened to a deep black and the glossy slate of contempt that flashed across them sent a chill through my body.

"Isabella, be quiet," Edward said from behind. I turned suddenly to see him walking in through the door behind Rosalie.

"It's done," Rosalie said, casting me a sharp, disparaging glare as she made her way over to Emmett. I jerked slightly at the ice in her glance and inclined toward Edward instinctively. Edward was holding the journal to his side under his arm. When he got close he held it out for me and I grabbed for it needfully. I let out a sigh of relief when I had it pressed against me again. The familiar smell of the leather was calming and it managed to still my flare of irritation with Emmett on contact.

"I didn't mean to sound ungrateful," I said apologetically to Edward. "But today wasn't my fault. How could I have known that that maid was coming in here?"

"Well it's certainly not the _maid's _fault," Rosalie cut in contemptuously. "She was only doing her job. She's supposed to be here. You on the other hand...."

"We've been through all of this already," Edward spoke up, hushing Rosalie with a dismissing tone. "Arguing about it won't change it."

"Why does everything have to be a long discourse," Jasper said, calling Alice to him with his gloved hand. "We agreed to something. Let's just do it without allowing our egos to get in the way."

Alice glided over to Jasper and took his hand. The connection was affectionate and I noticed the way their bodies always faced each other whenever they touched.

"I'll be outside," Emmett said, turning swiftly to the window.

"Thank you, Rosalie," Edward said. Something unreadable passed over her face. She then glanced at Carlisle and turned to follow Emmett outside without saying anything.

"Hey Rose," Jacob said, bouncing out behind Rosalie. "What did you make the humans think anyway? What's the new memory?"

She turned her face over her shoulder and shot Jacob a playful smile. When they disappeared through the window Carlisle asked Alice and Jasper to leave too. They nodded and darted out together, hand in hand.

"Edward, we still need to talk," Carlisle said in a gentle tone.

"Here's your purse," Edward said to me, seemingly ignoring Carlisle. I took the purse and moved my eyes between him and Carlisle, nervously. Esme's eyes were on me. When I shifted mine to hers, her expression softened and it looked like she was trying to send me an unspoken message. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was and for as long I looked at her she stared back, confident and unwavering.

I swallowed and looked back to Carlisle. I had missed everything they had just said to each other under the spell of Esme's stare.

"......after tonight," Edward was saying.

"You will say that every night," Carlisle said, glancing at me then. "Every night until she is gone, but time is wearing thin."

"Time was always worn thin," Edward responded. "But as long as she is here, my time is hers. You will have me to yourself after she leaves. Please understand."

"I do," Carlisle said, turning to Esme then. "I only hope it won't be too late by then."

"What is he talking about?" I asked tugging on Edward's jacket. He tilted his head toward me and passed his hand down my back.

"Don't worry about it."

"But Edward, it sounds important."

"Everything is important, Bella," Edward answered.

I turned to Carlisle then. He and Esme were walking toward the window.

"Carlisle," I called out. "What do you mean by you hope it won't be too late?"

Carlisle paused and turned to me. "It means that I hope the Legion elders don't get here before I get the chance to talk to him."

"Was is it about?"

"Bella," Edward said, tugging at my elbow. "Leave it alone."

The look in Carlisle's eyes was disconcerting. Whatever it was, it was a heavy weight on him and he needed to talk to Edward about it.

"Do you know what it's about?" I asked Edward.

"Not entirely, no."

"I think you should talk to him." Something about the silent urgency in Carlisle's expression and disposition knotted my insides. It made me nervous and strangely excited.

"It will take all night," Edward said to me. "I thought you didn't want to waste our time together?"

"How do you know it will take all night though?"

"Because I know Carlisle," he answered, raising his eyes to Carlisle then.

"And what's one night in a lifetime?" Esme said with a knowing voice.

"Exactly," Edward said. "I do not have a lifetime, Esme."

"But you could."

"What!" I shrieked.

"Stop!" Edward barked, stepping away from me. He blocked my view of Carlisle with his tall, wide frame. "Are you doing this on purpose? You will get her to react. Leave us, please."

"Edward," I stepped out from behind him and grabbed onto his coat with my two hands. "What's going on. What aren't you telling me?"

"There's nothing to tell, Bella...." he bit out. He was getting angry. His eyes were like live sparks, set to rupture a massive explosion with but the slightest aggravation. I was thoroughly confused but I hated when he got like that. His voice lost its affection and his eyes got dark and frightening. It was the only time he seemed more like a creature than a man.

Something quiet passed between Edward and Carlisle then. Carlisle nodded and touched Esme's shoulder. They then disappeared through the window.

"Edward...."

"I can't, Bella."

"You can't what?"

"I can't do this with you right now."

"Do what with me?"

"Talk about this."

"What is this....talk about what? We're long past the secrets stage....spit it out."

"There's nothing to spit out. I don't know what it is Carlisle wants to talk about."

"But you suspect...." I said, shifting my eyes back and forth between his. "And

whatever it is, you're blocking it. Why?"

"You're wrong."

"Tell me."

"There's nothing to tell. Come to bed."

He turned and walked over to the bed, expecting that I would follow. I bit into my bottom lip, feeling the knots inside my stomach tighten with every breath. He was naked before I could blink twice but regardless, I turned and ran toward the window. By the time I got to it he was in front of me with his arms crossed over his torso and his wings spread wide at his sides, hiding the window behind him. The muscles in his arms bulged slightly and his erection danced in front of my eyes.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I want to talk to Carlisle."

He closed his eyes and clenched down on his jaw. "Bella you need to trust me."

"I do, but I hate it when you keep secrets from me. And you do it when you think you're protecting me from from something."

"And I've been right every single time."

"If you don't tell me, he will."

"He wont. Not without talking to me first."

I tried not to look, but it was too goddamn hard....in every sense of the word. My eyes dropped to the massive head of his erection and I swallowed when I saw it. He was perfectly sculptured and a part of me wondered if he was that beautiful when he was just human as well. It was no wonder Tanya killed herself.

_No! _I screamed internally, shaking my head vehemently with my eyes tightly shut.

"You're trying to distract me with your body," I managed to say, keeping my eyes closed.

"Is it working?" He asked.

"No," I answered untruthfully, tapping my foot on the floor.

I felt him step closer to me. His earthen scent clouded the air around me and made it harder to focus. His hands slid against my cheekbones then, his fingers pushing their way into my hair at the back.

"Then, does this?" He whispered, dropping his lips on my forehead.

"No," I lied again. My breath started catching in my throat.

"No?" He asked. Even though my eyes were closed I heard him smile. He kissed my nose then.

"This?"

"No."

Then he kissed my closed eyes, my cheeks and my chin.

"That?"

"Nuh uh...."

"What about this?" He ran his tongue across my neck, up the side to the spot behind my ear.

"Noooo."

He then bit my earlobe and started to nibble.

"I'm not that easily distracted," I whispered, my eyes rolling to the back of my head, even with them being closed.

"I'll have to try harder then," he near growled, with his face buried in my neck.

"Edward," I whispered.

"Shut up," he countered and took my breasts in his hands. "How many times do I have to tell you, you talk too much."

"Yes but...."

He shut me up with his mouth and without even working up to it, shoved his cool tongue inside. It felt like a slithering reptile, excavating my mouth for every shred of warmth I had inside. Even over my clothes his massaging hands got my nipples to stand erect. I moaned naturally but kept my hands still at my sides, fists clenched, wanting to talk and get to the bottom of the secrecy, but losing to his power over me.

We kissed as his hands roamed from my breasts down the center of my stomach, over my hips, then took a firm grasp on my butt cheeks. He held me with appreciative palms and rocked me toward him with a groan, lifting me just high enough to wedge my eager clitoris against the base of his erection.

The feeling of his tongue in my mouth, his lips on mine, the connection between our private parts and his fingers squeezing against the contours of my ass, made the spot between my thighs go wet.

"I can smell you," he whispered hoarsely into my mouth.

"I can smell you too," I answered.

"No," he said, moving one hand from my butt to the wet spot between my legs. He grabbed me there with a rough tug of his hand and exhaled into my face.

"I can _smell _you."

"You can?"

"It's the most maddening thing about you when you get like this. You smell like a bubbling pot of boiling sex and I have to have it."

"You will...."

"Now."

"Ok.....you win."

"Of course I win."

He unbuttoned my pants and with one swift motion had them on the floor around my ankles. He burst a few buttons on my blouse and almost tore my bra at the middle when he took it off. With one arm around my waist he lifted me off the floor, swung me around and slammed my back against the wall next to the window. My pants fell to the floor.

He hitched my legs up around him and pulled my underwear to the side.

"Just take it off," I panted breathlessly, grabbing two handfuls of his hair. He pushed two fingers into me then and my head slammed back against the wall.

I sucked in a saving breath and tightened every muscle in my body as he started thrusting upward, jerking my body slightly with every manual push. I felt the way my breasts jumped between us and I heard the sound of his fingers slapping in and out. I never remembered myself getting as wet as this with Eric, but when I was with Edward, I was a spilling pod of sexual hormones. My entire body went into flames because with every second his finger thrusting got faster and faster. Repeatedly, the back of my head went into the wall and when he inserted a third, hard finger and passed his thumb over my clitoris, I belted out an appreciative cry.

"Edward!"

"Bella," he grunted. I opened my eyes and looked down at him. His stare was smoldering and his lips were parted. My left knee was high up against his chest and my right leg was hooked around his waist.

He stopped suddenly with his fingers inside and reached in as far as my body would allow, rubbing his fingers against my deepest walls. I couldn't breathe. I tried to hold his magnetic stare but I couldn't fight the rolling sensation of my eyeballs. He groped with his fingers and made my blood rush to my head. Then he started to do a swirling, circular thing where he brushed the same spot over and over. All the while his thumb was feverishly massaging my clit. I felt my body seize and my lungs started to swell. The pleasure was so intense that I froze in time at the mercy of his touch.

"Breathe," he whispered and slid his fingers out then back in with a slapping thrust.

"I'm going to cum, " I gasped, throwing my head back against the wall again.

"Not yet," he said.

"I can't hold it," I gasped, pulling his hair hard.

His fingers came out swiftly and he roughly pulled my panties down my legs. Then with his two hands on my hips, he pushed me up the wall and wrapped my thighs around his neck. He stretched his arm up and pressed his palm against my chest to hold me in place then held me under my thigh with his other hand. He tried to temper me and stall my orgasm by kissing the insides of my thighs and in the corners between my legs. He purposely teased me by avoiding the one place I needed him to kiss. I felt myself leak and his cool breath against my heated, maddened clitoris sent me into hysterics. If the thing could talk it would have screamed at him to stop fucking around already.

I bucked slightly and pushed my hips toward his face when the tip of his tongue grazed against my opening. Again, my head hit the wall. The pressure was too much. I wanted to scream. Nothing was more sexually appetizing than the feeling of his tongue being inserted into me. I sucked in multiple breaths, trying to remember to breathe despite the breathtaking cunnilingus that was about to tear me to shreds against that wall. He took his tongue out and licked upward. I could have sworn I heard my clit scream when his tongue passed over the bobbing knob. I was so hot for him I pushed myself into his face shamelessly, demanding that I be put out of my misery.

I screamed out when he finally did it. The hot tickling sensation ran through my legs, up into my stomach, then through my arms. My finger tips sparked and the buzz fried my body until I went completely red. He pushed my thigh up against my stomach, his other hand still on my chest between my breasts. I tried to call his name yet nothing but the gasps of heavy breathing made it through my lips. The little circular movements with his tongue soon turned to pointed sucking and the moment he pulled me fully into his mouth I lost my breath completely.

I let go of his head and grabbed on to the wall above my head, digging my finger nails into the unfortunate plaster. He pressed into my chest with his palm and pushed the trapped air out of my lungs. I exhaled with relief and sucked another bated breath in. Having my knee pinned up against my chest like it was made it easy for me to grind myself against his face. I was near going into convulsions already, hitting the back of my head, burning up and creasing my brow in pleasure. I heard him groan between my legs, enjoying it just as much as I was. The sound of him groaning between my legs almost killed me. He pressed against my chest again and I exhaled with a loud cry, tossing my head back.

He let go of my thigh and let it drop onto his shoulder then stretched his second arm up to my chest and took my both nipples between his thumb and middle fingers. I cried out with every pinch. Something hot started to swarm inside of my womb. The three points of desire were being pinched and sucked on at the same time. I rocked myself onto his mouth harder. He sucked harder. He pinched harder. I screamed louder and then, it was all over.

I tightened internally and my thighs wobbled around his neck. A few beads of sweat rolled down the center of my chest. My hair was damp. I was out of breath. He let go of me and let my limp, shuddering body slide down the wall where he caught me in his harsh arms.

I rested my head on his shoulder as he walked me over to the rug by the fireplace. His body was still chilly but I didn't mind. I liked his cool temperature because it was who he was and more than anything it amazed me the way he got warm then hot when our bodies clashed.

The fire in the hearth cackled softly and the orange embers danced across his pale features. I gazed at him silently, trying to etch the memory of his face into my head where nothing could ever blot it out.

"Are you hungry?" He asked. "You haven't eaten for the day yet."

"I'll live," I said with a sigh. We lay quietly for a few minutes next to the fire with our legs intertwined, staring at each other.

When the familiar pang of pain started assaulting me again I rested my cheek against his chest and bit down on my jaw, determined not to spoil it by crying.

"Why won't you talk to Carlisle?" I asked quietly. I could hear his bloodless heart beating in his chest. The beat was faster and louder than a normal heartbeat. He passed his fingers through my hair gently and kissed the top of my head.

"I will, eventually."

"I have this sickening feeling that we should know what he has to say, sooner rather than later. Why don't you want me to know?"

He sighed emphatically and stopped stroking my hair, so I raised my face to look at him.

"Edward?"

"You've been through enough pain as it is," he said softly. "I don't want anything to worsen that."

"What are you talking about? I can't possibly hurt more than the moment I will lose you. What could be worse than that?"

His eyes darkened then. The clear, silvery gray inflection deepened to a steely black, making me swallow hesitantly.

"False hope," he answered. "_That_ can make it worse."

"I don't understand," I said, frowning indelibly. "False hope?"

"Please don't make me talk about this."

I pushed myself up to sit and stared down at him.

"You know I'm not going to drop it, Edward, so you might as well get it over with."

He closed his eyes then tensed the muscles in his face. For the first time, the porcelain texture of his features looked strained and my heart dropped slightly.

"What would you do if you thought there was a way I could survive this?" He asked.

I almost passed out in shock. The fact that he was even asking that all was hope enough to paralyze me indefinitely.

"Is there......I mean....," I started to stutter with my words. "If there was.....yes.....anything. Edward, I would do anything."

"And what would you do if after believing in that, you realized it couldn't actually happen?"

"What?" My heart started its usual clamoring in my chest. I had to press my own hand against it in an attempt to contain the pressure. It shortened my breath and I started to panic.

"I don't know what I would do." I turned onto my knees and fisted my hands, staring down at him fiercely. He opened his eyes and gazed up at me, looking tormented and conflicted.

"Bella," he whispered. "There's nothing that kills me more than seeing you hurt from all this. I'm afraid to give you false hope in something as unpredictable and unlikely as me surviving next week."

"Honestly Edward? If I thought we'd found a way to save you but then it didn't work out...the disappointment alone might shatter me to death, but guess what....that's the risk I will take if there is even a one percent chance that I might have you in my life when this is over. I don't care."

He sighed and pushed himself up onto his elbows.

"Is there a way?" I asked, wide eyed and stunned.

"Not likely, no. Please don't get excited."

"Then why are we talking about this?"

"I think Carlisle has a theory but we haven't talked about it yet."

"Edward??!!" I gaped at him with wide eyes. "What the fuck?!"

He sighed again and dropped his weight back onto the floor, landing with a loud and heavy thud. I even felt the vibration in the floor under the rug.

"Why are you in here right now when you should be out there talking to Carlisle about this?!"

"Because," he said, trying to maintain the calm in his voice.

"Because fucking what?!"

"Because whatever it is, it will be left to the discretion of Aro and the other elders. Aro has never been known for his mercy with Gargoyles. He has mercy only for humans."

I jumped up to my feet and stood over him, pointing an accusing finger down at his face.

"Please do not tell me that the reason you are avoiding this is because you're afraid you're going to lose!"

"Bella...."

"Get up."

"Excuse me?"

"Get the fuck up."

He stood effortlessly and put his hands on his hips. "I can see you're suddenly quite at ease with the word fuck."

I ignored his jibe at me and narrowed my eyes into angry slits.

"He will never go for it, Bella....and this is exactly why I didn't want you know about this."

"Why? Because I would force you to look into it? I shouldn't even have to argue this with you! Don't you _want _to be with me?!"

He grabbed me roughly by my shoulders and shook me. "Of course I want to be with you!" He bit out. "Why would you question that!"

"Then why won't you try?!"

"Because I don't want your hopes raised for nothing! Do you think this will the first time Aro has been approached with something of this nature? He has never backed down! Ever! Are you forgetting as well my long list of offenses?! It will be a futile attempt and it will only hurt you more!"

"Oh my God! I don't care about any of that, Edward. We have to at least try!" My eyes spurted with water and I turned my head helplessly toward the window and called out. "Carlisle! Carlisle!"

"He will not come," Edward grunted harshly, dropping my shoulders from his grip.

"I want to talk to him."

"He will only talk to _me _about this. He has already told me that much. It is a sacred matter."

I turned my back to him and started picking my fallen clothes off the floor. With trembling hands and tears in my eyes I fumbled with the pieces until I was fully dressed. I spun around to face him and blinked, wiping the tears off my face with the back of my hand.

"Then talk to him, Edward," I choked out. "Please, go now and talk to him. This is more important than everything else all of a sudden."

A wave of emotion passed over his features and made him look like he was about to cry. He then closed the space between us with a flit and grabbed for me with desperate hands.

"Please don't cry, delicaie. I can't stand it."

The notion of saving his life was suddenly the most important thing to me, even more so than spending every waking moment with him. I was willing to sacrifice a few lost hours if it increased the chance of him surviving. In fact, I was willing to sacrifice a lot more than that.

"Am I one of your offenses?" I asked from within his crushing embrace. He slackened his arms and made it so that we could look at each other. The answer was already in his eyes.

"The Legion will find out about me," I began. "If they don't already know....and that will damage your chances of them looking on you with favor. Won't it?"

He nodded.

I swallowed the god awful, painful lump in my throat and tried to take a deep breath.

"Then I'll do it," I said. I blinked and two heavy streams of tears rolled down my cheeks. Edward raised his hands to my face and wiped the tears away with the pads of his thumbs.

"Do what, Bella?" he asked tenderly.

I swallowed again and raised my chin.

"I'll do it, Edward...I'll allow Rosalie to hypnotize me so that I won't get you into trouble. I'll do whatever it takes."

Shock flashed across his face then and he dropped his hands to his sides.

"Bella..." he whispered, shifting his eyes between mine. "But...."

"I will forget about you, but if there is a chance that you will survive, I will take it. All you'll have to do it come to me again, Gargoyle or human. Find me Edward...find me and love me and I will fall in love with you all over again. I know it. There's no way I could not love you."

He closed his eyes and gasped and when he reached for me again, I felt his hands tremble.

"Bella," he whispered with his lips pressed against my forehead. "My sweet, sweet Bella."

"It could work," I cried.

"It doesn't work that way," he said softly. "It will never be that simple. Any deal with a Gargoyle will involve a huge sacrifice. Even if they let me live after I have chosen death, I will be bound in some way or another. If I am to remain a Gargoyle Bella.....there is absolutely no way they will let me come to you again. They won't let me make the same mistake twice. And it is more likely to believe that they already know about you. Hypnosis might help, but it won't fool them."

"So....what does....."

"What I'm saying is," he said carefully, taking my face in his hands and staring deep into my eyes. "If you do this....hypnotize yourself and I live....there is still a huge possibility of you never seeing me again."

The tears came down harder and I shook my head mournfully, clutching onto his naked chest with my angry hands, hating all the universe for being so cruel.

"Either way I will never see you again," I sobbed and broke my words up with my heavy gasping. "Whether or not you die I won't have you...I get it...but at least....this way.....if I do this....it might help you and you might live. And that's all that matters anymore anyway. I would do it if it would sway them to let you live."

"But without you?"

"Even so! At least you will be alive!"

"I won't live if I can't have you, Bella!" He cried out, cradling my head to his chest and squeezing me harder. "It's not worth it."

"It is! Your life is worth every painful inkling of it. Please...._please _Edward. Please talk to Carlisle and find out what he knows."

"No," he choked out, shaking his head stubbornly, refusing to listen.

"Not even for me?"

"Don't try manipulating me," he bit out with great difficulty.

"Listen to me," I cried. "There is nothing more important to me right now than your life. After everything you've been through you deserve another chance. I love you this much Edward. I would sacrifice myself like this if I knew it would help your chances."

"I've had enough chances. I will not live through an eternity of torture, of knowing you and loving you and not being able to be with you, Bella. I've done it already. I've loved you from afar and had to force myself to stifle it. But after all this? After having you and holding you, touching you and tasting you and feeling the way you love me....there is no way I can survive without that._ I'd rather die_."

"Stop being so foolish! I am willing to go through the hypnosis! I thought you wanted that?"

"Edward," came a voice from the window. I whipped my head toward the sound and saw Rosalie standing inside the room.

"Yes," Edward grunted at her impatiently.

"I think you should go to Carlisle," she said. "It's time your Bella and I talked anyway. If this is what she wants, we'll have a lot to talk about."

"You eavesdropping snake," Edward spat at her. "This is what_ you_ want. And how dare you come in here uninvited. This is none of your business."

He spun toward his clothes and had them on in a flash.

"Since when are you a prude," Rosalie said cattily. "I've seen you naked everyday for two hundred years."

"Get out, Rose," Edward sneered. "Stay out of this."

"I'm not trying to get in the middle," she said simply. "But I thought you should know that Carlisle is currently on his way to the elders with the hope of approaching them with your case and with his....idea, for want of a better term."

"What?" Edward barked, taking a few angry steps toward her. "_What is he doing?_!"

"He is trying to save your life, Edward," Rosalie said with her usual coolness. "And he's afraid that your avoiding him will work against you, so he is about to take it into his own hands."

"But he should talk to me first!" Edward shrieked. "The elders?! Is he crazy??"

"For once, I agree with you," she answered, shifting her icy stare to me. I folded my arm across my chest and shuddered slightly, hating the anxiety that ate through me like fire on paper.

"Rosalie, do you know....?" He started to ask.

"Talk to Carlisle, Edward. He will give you all the answers you need," She said simply, cutting him off mid sentence.

He turned to me then and bore his eyes deep into mine. Then he stretched over to the bed and found my Selenite clasp still under my pillow. Very gently he put it around my neck and twisted the broken hook to keep it in place.

"If I wanted to hurt her, Edward, the Selenite wouldn't stop me," Rosalie said, coolly. "I'd only have to snatch it off her neck to have my way."

My pores raised.

"Ignore her," Edward said softly, pressing a hasty kiss to my cheek. "I'll be back. I'm going to stop Carlisle before he gets any further."

I nodded, feeling as unraveled and out of sorts as ever. "Ok."

"I love you," he said, rubbing my face with his thumb. "I'll try not to be long. Alice is outside."

"I love you too," I answered him. "I'll be ok. Go. Hurry."

"Alice," he said, without raising his voice a notch. "Come."

Not two seconds later Alice was popping through the window.

"You called?"

"Please keep her out of trouble."

"I'm not a baby, Edward."

Without another word he brushed past both Alice and Rosalie and disappeared through the window.

Rosalie scoffed and gave me the up and down with her eyes. "He's afraid to leave you alone with me," she said, for some reason sounding slightly offended.

"Well he has just cause," Alice said, coming over to me. "You can't blame him, Rosalie."

"You might all find yourselves biting your tongue one day," Rosalie said. "Leave me with her. We need to talk."

"Edward asked me to stay near, and so I shall. Besides, it's not like I won't be listening in any case."

Rosalie looked pissed off, like she usually did. Her blond hair sat lazily on her shoulders, gleaming in the glow of the fireplace. Her eyes sparkled like cold ice and her flawless features looked like they would crack under the force of the scowl she wore. Her eyes fell on me again and I was glad that Alice's pushy nature had her firmly planted at my side. Of all the Gargoyles in the host, and as much as I didn't know any of them like I knew Edward, I trusted Rosalie the least. It was hard to picture her as a guardian of any kind, roaming the night, helping people. How did she ever get past her ego to deign to touch a human in need?

"I will hypnotize you as you like," Rosalie started. "I only wanted to give you the option of the memory you want to replace the ones you have now."

"I can choose?" I asked, slightly dumbfound. Was she actually trying to be nice? "I thought you just made people think whatever you wanted them to?"

"Usually yes. But I am willing to make an exception in your case."

I glanced at Alice out of the corner of my eye, unsure about what to make of this.

"Why?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter. Just say if you are fine with it."

"I'm fine with that...yes."

"And I will have to do it before you leave."

"Before I leave...."

"Yes. Your previous terms with Edward stated that the host watch over you for a while in Seattle after his passing to determine whether or not you were "able" to withstand the grief on your own. But we will have no time for that if your hypnosis is supposed to convince the elders that you have no memory of Edward. They can descend upon us at any minute and we will need to be prepared to act quickly."

I started getting nervous. My hair stood on end and I couldn't bloody well get the lump out of my throat.

"I need your permission," she said.

"My permission for what?"

"To hypnotize you in case of emergency....on the spur of the moment. In case they appear unexpectedly. If that happens we will not have the time to do this procedurally. It will have to be fast and without warning."

I had to sit down. I groped for the bed behind me and let my weight fall heavily against it.

"So, one minute I will be normal, and the next, I'll be....."

"None the wiser. I will put you to sleep so that you won't know the trip home. You'll be at home in Seattle when you awake, where you belong.....with a new memory."

"With a new memory...." I repeated.

"Correct."

I felt winded all of a sudden. I looked at Alice, then back at Rosalie. I took a few deep breaths and bent over to hug myself, on the verge of fainting from the pressure. The room started getting darker and I knew I needed to focus on breathing through my nose in order to control the oncoming anxiety attack.

"Bella, are you alright," Alice asked, touching me on my shoulder.

"No," I uttered, rocking my body back and forth "I just need a while."

"It's a large burden, I know," Alice said kindly, stroking my arm with her cool hand. "But it's only temporary. Soon, you won't remember even this."

I sat up and shifted my eyes to her steely gray ones and blinked stupidly. "I won't know you anymore? I'm losing you too."

She didn't answer.

"All of this......." I said, passing my eyes over the room. They fell on the journal on the coffee table and a huge pain tugged at my heart.

"What about the journal?"

"It's yours," Alice said. "You can keep it."

"But it has Gargoyle secrets in it."

"It's nothing that can't pass for the mad ramblings of an avid story teller," Rosalie came in. "If you'd like, I can make it just an amateur story book that was inherited by you from a deceased family member. But still, you must agree to keep it to yourself. I will also implant that caution into your thoughts."

I took another deep breath, trying to function under the overwhelming anxiety. This world that I had plunged myself into was erratically dynamic, ever changing, spontaneous and just flat out, crazy. There was a reason humans weren't supposed to be involved with Gargoyles and this had to be one of them. We just weren't built for that kind of mental and emotional upheaval. At twenty one years old, I was sure I would die of heart failure or an Aneurysm of some sort, just from the constant emotional and physical battery I underwent in such a short space of time. I was sure I had aged at least ten years in just a few weeks.

"It only hurts now," Alice said, breaking me free of my thoughts. "At least it won't hurt anymore once the hypnosis is done."

I looked at Rosalie then. She was still and her stare was direct.

"You love him that much," Rosalie said out of nowhere in a flat tone.

I frowned slightly and waited for her to continue.

"You love Edward enough to sacrifice your memory of him because you think it might help save him."

"I do."

A strange tranquilizing glint filled her eyes then and I saw right then and there the power she withheld in her stare. Had it not been for the Selenite around my neck, she'd have had me in a second. All scary bitchiness aside, the girl really was hypnotizing and bewitchingly beautiful.

"I'm actually impressed," she said. With a last glance at Alice, she turned to leave. Before jumping through the window she turned back to me.

"You have one hour to decide on the memory you want to have. And I promise you, I will not use it until it is absolutely necessary."

When she left I looked at Alice, stunned and frayed. I moved closer to her and whispered into her ear.

"_Was she trying to be nice? 'Cause she's still as scary as fuck_."

Alice smiled. "And she heard even that."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding me."

"Nope."

"Oh...so, did I just shoot myself in the foot?"

"It'll be ok. She likes being scary. It's compensating."

"What's really going to happen, Alice?" I asked. "I know it's next to impossible but is there really a chance that Edward might survive?"

"I don't know, Bella. It's never happened before. At least not that I know of. The Legion is unbendable and they have to be. It's the only way to maintain order."

"Do you know what Carlisle's idea is? How he thinks Edward might have a chance?"

"No," Alice said. "Carlisle is very discreet. He won't talk about it without talking to Edward first. But Bella, you have to know that whatever it is, it's going to be a long shot. You need to prepare yourself for the very real possibility that Edward will die, despite your hypnosis."

I squeezed my eyes shut and bent over so that my chest was pressed against my knees. "I can't even think about it," I gasped. "It's not like I'll know anyway....now that I've agreed to hypnosis."

"That choice was very admirable."

"I didn't do it to be admired," I said, hugging my thighs. "I did it because I don't want to be the reason the elders refuse his case. If our affair makes him lose out on another opportunity at life, I'd never be able to forgive myself. He deserves better than that."

"I know and I want you to know that I'll always be there for you, Bella," she said.

I sat upright then and looked at her dismally.

"Even after we return to Seattle," she went on. "Barring whatever we need to cope with after facing off with the elders, I promise to stay close to you and watch over you. It's what Edward would want. And it's also what I want."

Something tugged at my heart strings and I felt the most insatiable urge to hug her then, but I stayed in place.

"I won't even know you're there," I said sadly.

"No, but I'll be your own personal guardian, if you'll have me."

"Of course I'll have you, Alice. Unless of course, if Edward survives," I tried to joke, but the smile never reached my eyes. "He gets first guardian rights."

I remembered what he had said to me then, just before he left to go after Carlisle. He had said that he couldn't live, loving me and not be allowed to be with me. He would rather die.

I tried to push the thoughts out of my head by shaking my head vigorously. Grabbing my chest again, I bent over in longing and hoped that he would find Carlisle quickly so that he could come back. I needed him already. I always needed him. And for a split second I wondered if letting him go after Carlisle was a good idea at all.

"You look like you need a distraction," Alice said, cutting into my thoughts again.

"Huh?"

"Put on your jacket and come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"For a ride."

"A ride?"

"Yes. You know what it's like to fly with Edward, but you haven't flown with me yet."

I widened my eyes and a small laugh actually escaped my mouth.

"Fly? With you?!"

"Why not? It'll be good for you. I promise I won't drop you."

I pulled back slightly and cocked an eyebrow.

"Ok, well after that statement I'm not so sure."

"Come on," she laughed out. "Jasper will go with us too. It'll be fun."

"Where will we go?" I asked, jumping off the bed in search of my jacket; already sold on the idea.

"Not far and don't worry, we'll be within range so we'll know when Edward and Carlisle get back."

I found my jacket and grabbed it hurriedly. There was absolutely nothing more kick ass than being in the sky with a flying Gargoyle. The smile I gave Alice was the first genuine smile for the night so far. It was wide and giddy and her eyes twinkled with mischief and excitement at my response to her idea.

"Let's do it," I said, taking her outstretched hand. We half ran, half skipped to the window, my heart galloping into giddy overdrive. It was just what I needed.

"Take a deep breath," she sang. And as soon as I did, we were soaring through the window.

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A/N: Awwwww.....Alice *tear* Love her.

**Reviews are better than Alice stealing you away for an awesome ride!! Review!**


	17. Chapter 16 The Hour Glass

Hey everybody. I'm sorry for the late update. I was struggling with some awful, personal stuff that worked directly against my writing for a bit. But I'm back with a beautiful chapter and hopefully I channelled my feelings properly into this.

Thanks for your support and for all the supportive PMs I got when some of you realized something wasn't right...lol. I love all my readers and your reviews touch me in a way I don't think you'll ever understand.

Annie... I heart you. I heart you. I heart you. I heart you. I heart you.

Whack Pack...what would I do without you? I missed you and I love you all!

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**Chapter 16**

**The Hour Glass**

**Bella**

Flying with Alice and Jasper was great and very different than flying with Edward. When Edward had me in the sky, he fluctuated between holding me lovingly and crushing me against him as some means of caution. With him I was giddy and enthralled by our closeness; inhaling his scent, listening to the close calm in his voice and feeling like an utter idiot for screaming like a crazed fool.

When Alice held me in the sky she was careful too, but with a hint of recklessness that had me both nervous and excited. She didn't fly in the dead straight line like Edward did either. She swooped and she swirled and she did crazy upside down things that had my eyes bulging out of my head. She was wild and playful but once I could anticipate the bile in my mouth, I was fine. And she never allowed me the opportunity to yelp in fright because she'd dart into another position or direction before I had the time to react.

Jasper was right alongside us, keeping up effortlessly. And anytime we got eye contact he would shoot me a playful wink and smile deviously. The wind rushed at my face and made my hair fly all around it. It whipped and slapped and soon made me numb. It was cold up there and the arms of a Gargoyle had no warmth to offer, but the thrill of it distracted me from the discomfort. I didn't want anything to spoil the adventure, so I blocked it all out and focused on Alice and the wild ride that I might never be able to enjoy after that night. With everything that was happening, who knew? Time was not on my side and I had already chosen the path of hypnosis that would soon make all this cease to exist in my mind. All I wanted in those moments was to enjoy it while it still lasted.

Alice laughed a lot and her eyes danced; and her chemistry with Jasper was tangible. As much as she held and focused on me, there was hardly a moment when they didn't try to touch each other as we moved. Every now and again he would swirl around us and pull up behind her just to drop a kiss on her cheek and she'd giggle every time.

"I bet Edward doesn't do any of this when he takes you flying," she said to me, cheekily. I shook my head as a bed of lights flashed by beneath us.

"No! He doesn't!" I shrieked. "He only flies in straight lines and he squeezes me so tightly when we have to go down!"

"You know why, right?"

"Um..."

"Edward is afraid of heights."

I knew that, but with every thing else that was happening it was hard to give credence to anything of the sort. I had brushed it off with other more important things to worry about...like his dying.

"That is so odd," I responded. "A Gargoyle that's afraid of heights. All all he ever does is fly!"

"If Edward had it his way he would walk everywhere."

"In his defense," Jasper said. "That fear followed him over the threshold. He didn't like heights as a human, so being a Gargoyle has nothing to do with it."

Alice rolled her eyes and I had to giggle.

"He likes to compete with me to see who can defend Edward more," she said, playfully gesturing to Jasper with her chin. "But he won't win."

"I won't?"

"You never do," she said to him with a smile.

"Give me the girl," he returned with a mischievous grin.

"Uhhhh, am _I_ the girl you are referring to?" I asked with an arched eyebrow, my heart skipping over its palpitations.

"Can I throw you?" Alice asked me.

"Throw me??!"

"Don't worry, I'll catch you." Jasper laughed.

"Under no circumstance are you allowed to throw me!"

"Don't be a pussy!" Alice squealed.

"Oh my God! Gargoyles say pussy?! I am NOT a pussy!"

"Great then! Jasper, catch!"

"WHAT THE...!!" Before I could finish, I was sailing through the black sky toward a grinning Jasper. "ALIIIIIIIICE!!!"

"Gotcha!" He said as I fell rigidly into his arms. The clunk hurt my hips when I landed against him.

"FRICK!! Be careful with the human!!" I screamed.

"Relax," he said. "Now, hold on tight."

"What...why?!"

"We're going to win Alice at something," he snickered, with that mischievous smirk of his. "Don't you just hate a 'know it all'? Say bye bye, Alice."

"Oh my word....I'm about to pee all over you."

He ignored me of course and shot off, freakishly faster than we were going before. I heard the echo of Alice's laughter behind us as I clutched around Jasper's neck, squealing in excitement. Between his wings I could see her flitting through the sky behind us trying to catch up, her chin pushing forward and her white teeth flashing. To anyone else the vision would have been ghastly and nightmare provoking; the sight of a pale, white face racing through a black backdrop of night on even blacker wings.

I trusted them though and as wraithlike as they appeared, they were created for good and in my heart I knew they were. They would never hurt me.....intentionally.

Did Gargoyles ever make mistakes? I cringed to think.

Every time I thought Alice was sure to catch us, Jasper sensed her nearness and would dart sharply to the left or the right. Once he even dropped a few feet downward and my stomach all but hurled itself into my chest. I shut my eyes tight and shrieked, and before long I found myself actually egging him on.

"Turn right!" I shrieked. "No...left! Left!"

And he moved appropriately.

"Oh my God, she just went under!! She's coming! Move Jasper! Move! Hahaaaa!!! Faster!"

He pulled up sharply and took off backward, moving horizontal to the ground with me on top of his torso, hugging him fiercely.

"But I can't see anything like this!!" I screamed.

"Be patient, my little navigator," he said, with his cunning smile. Then with a swift arm around my waist he turned us vertical and zoomed upward. I looked down, and surely, Alice was soaring up behind us, about to catch us with her arms stretched up. She was getting closer with every second. My adrenaline pumped and the taste in my mouth had to have been a mixture of that and the uprooted bile from my stomach. I don't know how I didn't spontaneously combust from just the sheer thrill of the chase.

"Faster!!" I screamed. Then she grabbed me playfully by my ankle and tugged downward. That action shot me right back into an unpleasant memory and I immediately went into a panic attack.

"No! Wait! Let go! Let go! No! No! NO!!" I screamed as I buried my face into Jasper's shoulder and kicked at Alice's hand. She had grabbed the same ankle as Renee while dying in the car three years before. It felt exactly the same; the downward tugging, the hysteria in the grasp, the determination in the struggle. The imagery cut through my mind like a sharpened blade, searing and painfully unexpected.

Jasper sensed the sincerity in my alarm and came to an abrupt stop.

"Alice, stop," he said in a much sterner tone.

"Bella?" Alice said, letting go immediately. She came up alongside us and took me from Jasper. "What is it? Did I scare you?"

I buried my face in her cold neck and held on to her for dear life, sucking in sharp breaths and trying not to succumb. There was darkness everywhere and the biting cold started cutting though my fantasy.

"I just need a few seconds," I said rigidly, my lips trembling.

"Do you want to go back?"

"No," I said. "I'll be okay. Just give me a few seconds."

I took a few deep breaths, craving for a swig of Scotch or Vodka as the memories did everything in its relentless power to weaken me. Alice and Jasper were quiet as we hovered in the air and Alice's hold went from strong and hard, to something more like a hug. After a few minutes of silence passed, I raised my head and blinked.

"What happened?" She asked me.

"Small panic attack. Don't worry about it. Just a memory," I said, trying to brush it away.

"Of what?"

"My mother."

"When I grabbed your ankle?"

"Yes. She did the same thing just before she died in the car."

"I'm sorry," Alice said, softly. "I didn't know."

"It's not your fault. I'm not upset with you. I just panicked there for a while, but I'm alright now."

"I'm taking you back."

"No, it's okay, really. I'm having fun." I turned my face to Jasper. "That was fun. I need more fun."

They exchanged a cautious glance, then Jasper smiled.

"Well...if you're sure."

"I am. I'm over it now. Usually it takes a swig of something strong to take my mind away, but what beats being in the sky with two Gargoyles? I'm the luckiest girl in the world."

I wasn't really over it just yet. Renee's face was still badgering me for priority in my thoughts, but I refused to let her through. It was awful the way a lifetime of good, happy memories with my family were smothered by the last ones created in the horrible moments before their deaths. It almost made their lives with me count for nothing. I hated that.

Alice still wasn't convinced by my show of bravery. I saw it in her gun metal gaze. So it was my turn then to try distracting her. I came up with the most random of questions in my attempt to distract her and hit the jackpot quite by mistake.

"Tell me something," I said to Jasper, letting go of Alice with one arm to point at his hands. "Why do you always wear gloves if you guys never feel cold? Is it a fashion thing? I have a vague memory of Edward telling me why...but sorry, nothing stuck. I'm terrible at remembering things lately."

His smile stretched as far as his both ears, narrowing his eyes into mischievous slits. It raised my pores slightly. I looked to Alice and she too was smiling.

"I can show you....if you like?" Jasper said, temptingly. He had the most daring of smirks, the kind that sent a chill down your spine and made you want to retreat. And that twinkle in his eyes had a drawing quality. It's no wonder I couldn't get enough of them. Edward was right...humans were way in over their heads with Gargoyles. It was as if I had no power or control of my own mental faculties when around them. There wasn't much I wouldn't give of myself just to make them happy. I was sold, even with the Selenite strapped around my neck.

I nodded slowly in answer to Jasper's offer. He then gestured with a slight jerk of his head for us to follow him and Alice moved to suit.

"You really don't remember?" She asked me.

"I honestly don't, but I have a feeling it might creep me out just a little," I answered. She propped me against her side so that I could see forward as she flew.

"I can't wait to see your face when he shows you," she said with a giggle.

"Is it that bad?" I asked nervously.

"Let's just say, you'll want to kill me for not letting you know before I tossed you over to him."

We flew for a long while, longer than I expected, until I was sure we were far away from the castle. I was never more lost in my life.

"We're far away aren't we?" I asked quietly; the most quiet I've ever been in flight.

"He has to be sure," Alice answered, just as softly.

"Sure of what?"

"Ssshhhh, just watch," she said, with a small nod.

So I looked at Jasper flying ahead of us, his wings held out at this sides, making him glide quietly and smoothly. He was looking down as he moved, searching for something. He turned left and right and one time he even turned back and made us follow him back a way before turning left again.

"What is he looking for?" I asked.

"The right target."

"Target?"

"You'll understand when you see it."

Finally, we started to descend behind him and came upon a rooftop in what looked like a countryside residential neighborhood. There were things that looked like barns, quaint houses and open land with wooden fences that looked like farm land. It was late at night and very quiet so I huddled down next to Alice, keeping my eyes on Jasper.

Jasper leaped off the roof soundlessly and disappeared into the tall tree that stood close to the house we were on. When he reappeared he had something that looked like a sleeping bird in his hands.

"What is that?" I whispered, a chilling alarm beginning to creep up my spine.

"A dying owl," Jasper answered.

"What do you mean dying?"

"He's sick, Bella," Alice answered. Jasper gently opened the bird's mouth to show me the inside.

"You see the sores in his mouth?" He asked.

I squinted and bent my head so that I could see the inside. There were four open sores that I could see and the smell was awful. I pulled back slightly. The poor bird looked listless and weak and even when he opened his eyes there was no life in them anymore.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's infected with a parasite called Avian Trichomoniasis. It kills as many as 25% of owls every year."

"So he's dying..." I said, raising cautious eyes to Jasper. Jasper was looking down at the bird and stroking it affectionately with his gloved fingers.

"Yes," he said, simply.

"What are you going to do with him?"

I still wasn't sure what any of this had to do with why Jasper wore gloves all the time, but I tried to be patient. He was obviously going to show me something and I wondered if he was going to heal the poor thing.

"I think maybe we should do this where we won't alarm the neighbors with Bella's scream," Jasper said.

Before I had time to respond in alarm, Alice agreed and the next thing I knew, we were in flight again. The trip back was shorter than the trip to, probably because this time we flew in a straight line and they knew where they were headed.

The castle came back into sight after a while and when I thought they would take me there, they turned away and stopped mid air some distance off.

"You want to touch him one last time?" Jasper asked.

"Not really," I answered, observing him nervously. I bit down on my lower lip as I watched the bird stop moving his feathers. Then his eyes closed and I found myself holding my breath anxiously.

"Did he just....die?"

Alice tightened her arms around me. "Yes, and it happened naturally. Death is a part of life, Bella. It's okay. He's much more comfortable now."

With the now dead bird held to Jasper's side under his elbow, he pulled one of his gloves off and pushed it in his cloak pocket.

"Go back a little," Jasper said to Alice, and we glided backward.

"Why are we moving?"

"You're wearing Selenite, don't forget."

"Oh."

Jasper then took the bird out from under his elbow and with one last glance at me he touched the bird with his gloveless hand. What I saw should have made me scream. He opened the bird's wings manually with his hands and wherever he touched, the bird's body turned from brown feathers to hard, white stone. My eyes bulged and my voice got caught in my throat. With just a touch, Jasper had turned the bird from flesh to stone. It was amazing. It was awesome. And I didn't have the right words to express my awe.

When I had finally found my voice again, the first thing I did was gasp in disbelief, still not able to tear my eyes away from the calcified thing in Jasper's hands.

"I don't know what to say," I said, staring in wide eyed disbelief. "That's....."

"Amazing?" Alice said.

"Scary?" I said for myself. "And you're right."

"About?"

"I do want to kill you for not letting me know this before you threw me at him."

They both laughed at me.

"That's why I always wear gloves," Jasper said. My eyes shifted to his bare hand next and I swallowed nervously.

"Okay, so maybe you should....you know...." I said. "Put it back on."

"Hold him," Jasper said, offering me the bird with his gloved hand.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No I'm not. He's my gift to you."

"Gah...a dead, stone bird. Thanks Jasper." And I took the bird from him, flinching slightly when my hands brushed against his gloved fingers.

The bird was heavy so I hugged it with both arms against my chest. Jasper put his glove back on, clapped his hands together, then put his hands out to me.

"You want it back?" I asked.

"No. Come here, I'll take you back."

"Ya, when hell freezes over."

"Ridiculous girl," he snickered. "You were fine when I held you before."

"Yes, but that's when I didn't know you could do _that_."

"You're wearing Selenite, Bella." He said, flatly.

"Yes....but...."

"Then you'll be fine even with my gloves off."

"You wouldn't dare. Wait a minute," I looked up at Alice. "Can he do that to you?"

"Yup."

"Good grief almighty. So how do you two.....do you guys.....forget it. I don't even want to know." I turned back to Jasper. "You're every Gargoyle's worst nightmare aren't you?"

"Ain't it grand?"

"What about the rest of your body?" I asked. "I touched your neck before and...."

"Only my hands."

"Well thank goodness, or else Alice would be a cranky bitch."

"Hey!" Alice laughed.

"Do you do it consciously? Or....."

"All it takes is a touch of skin," he answered. "I can't control it with my mind if that's what you're asking, or else I wouldn't have to wear these."

He wriggled his fingers in front of my face.

Suddenly Alice's body went rigid and her arms tightened around my waist.

"What is it?!" I asked, looking at her worried face. "Ally?"

I followed her stare but I couldn't see anything but blackness in the sky.

"Alice, what do you see?" I asked, glancing at Jasper next. He too was staring off at the same point. I looked again and that time I saw the faintest flash of something dart through the sky.

"We have visitors," she said. My heart almost failed on me then because the only "visitors" we ever expected were the Elders. I froze.

Alice and Jasper moved toward the castle and for the first time that night, I wanted the feeling of floor under my feet.

"Where's Edward....." I uttered, stunned and not knowing how to react to the worry in Alice's face. A worried Gargoyle was even more frightening than a brooding one, because in my mind they were supposed to be in control. If they didn't have control...then everything went to shit. The most sickening, fearsome feeling settled in my stomach then and I had the instinctive feeling that everything just changed for the worst.

"He's not back yet," Alice answered. We swooped over the terrace outside my window and landed so fast it winded me. My stomach tickled and I had to squeeze the bird to my chest to prevent it from falling. The moment we landed, two cloaked backs turned, and I was faced with the striking new faces of a boy and a girl. The girl was small and blond and though she embodied the characteristics of a grown child, her face was hard and wiser than such. The dark haired boy next to her also looked very young, younger than any Gargoyle I had since come to know. Yet again, despite the deception in his size, his eyes were deep and aged, and held a silent eerie that made my hair stand.

"So it is true," the girl said. Her silvery gray eyes lingering on me too long for it to be comfortable. The weight of her stare bored straight through the center of my head I had to look away.

"What do you want?" Alice said. "Carlisle and the others aren't here. It's best you come back."

"We didn't come to see them," the girl said in response to Alice's clipped tone, never taking her eyes off my face. The boy's eyes were just as searching, but they were hardly as dredging or imposing as hers. I hung close to Alice, knowing instinctively that something wasn't right, and more so that this had everything to do with Edward despite what the blonde said. "We came to see the girl."

"Are they elders?" I choked out in a half whisper, knowing with the deepest despair that I was "the girl" she referred to.

"No," Alice and Jasper answered me, in unison. Out from the corners in the shadows, Esme appeared and my eyes shifted to her then to the emptiness on the terrace. I wondered where Rosalie and Emmett were.

"It's just as well that we aren't the Elders you mean," the blond girl said, still staring at me from her still stance. She spoke in an accent that I couldn't place. "But word travels fast and from what we've just seen, you seemed to have thrown all caution out the window, my friends. Frolicking with humans in the sky? My - how things have changed."

"Nothing has changed," Alice said. "This is different. Bella, you should go inside. You're cold and it's not long before dawn."

"I'm not leaving," I answered, hating the unsure tone in my voice. "I want to wait for Edward."

"Damn it, Bella," Alice said, closing her eyes for a second.

"Bella, Alice is right," Esme said with a warning look in her eyes. Feeling as if I had just been schooled by a mother figure, my feet shifted to move in obedience to Esme, but when the girl spoke again her voice captivated me and I froze in place.

"It doesn't matter," the blond girl said. "Hiding her at this point proves nothing. I've seen all that I needed to see."

"And what do you intend to do, Jane?" Esme asked in a haughty tone. "Run back to the elders with your sight? You're such a kiss ass."

"Maybe," Jane said. And I thought her name suited her perfectly. She looked young and innocent, sweet almost at a glance, but when she talked and stared at me like she was, I knew better. "Maybe not. They won't need to hear it from me anyway, and despite what you may think of me, I am not their only source. Like I said, word travels fast and Edward himself is to blame for any news being carried to the Elders. His pit stop at Notre Dame a few weeks ago was perhaps a mistake on his part."

Then she scoffed and looked at the boy at her side. "Morphs....they never get it right. Such a pity. I liked Edward."

Why was she talking about Edward in the past tense? I shifted uncomfortably, feeling the indelible frown on my forehead. I wanted to speak, but I hardly got the chance.

"What do you mean about Notre Dame?" Alice demanded.

"Edward rested there on his way over here, I presume, but made sure to leave before Sam and the others returned to their base that night. Let's just say that his Gargoyle scent wasn't the only thing he left behind. The scent of human was everywhere. Then when you guys showed up in France in search of him two weeks later, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. Your Edward ran away....and he was in possession of a human."

"So why did you come here?" Esme asked. "Just to see?"

Jane nodded and looked back at me. "I had to see it for myself."

"And so you've seen," Alice came in. "Now what?"

"I will never tell the secret," I cut in suddenly, and I literally felt all eyes snap toward me. I shifted again, hugging my bird to my chest and repeated it. "I will never tell."

"That has been said before," the dark haired boy said in a hyper, unsettled tone. Then all eyes snapped to him. His eyes were blazing suddenly, having lost their control and calm from before. Jane put her little hand on his forearm and silenced him with her touch. The connection between them was strange and obvious. At the touch of her hand something flickered in his eyes and he immediately returned to his controlled quietness.

"You're right," Jane said to me. "You will never tell, because when the elders find you, they won't leave you with the opportunity to expose us. They will deal with all of this accordingly. And my dear, Selenite will not stop them."

Alice put her hand on my back then and tried to send me invisible support.

"I am not the enemy," I said to Jane. "I am a friend."

"Regardless, you are a human. There is a place for humans in this world....and it is not frolicking with Gargoyles, or bedding them for that matter."

Just then Rosalie and Emmett flew in hastily and landed on the terrace. Ever the big brother, Emmett stepped between us and Jane and Rosalie took his side. The gust of wind they brought down with them shuffled my hair around my face. Their presence calmed me immediately and set me at ease.

"That may be so," Rosalie said to Jane. "But this is not your story to tell, Jane. The elders will come and when they do, we will handle it. It is a Host matter. Stay out of it."

"Oh yes," Jane's voice came over, mockingly. "The hypnotic bat. I have to say that I am rather surprised that you of all Gargoyles went along with this......." and her voice trailed off.

I couldn't see anything beyond the burlesque form of Emmett and his wings but then Jane corrected that by stepping to the side so that she could peek at me around Emmett. She frowned suspiciously and her eyes went down then up the length of me, as if trying to calculate something.

"Now I understand," she said, falling back in line with Emmett and out of sight. "It's no wonder you have kept her like a Host pet, flying around and playing all night long. You intend on hypnotizing her don't you? To fool the Elders into thinking she knows nothing....."

"What?" The boy spoke up again. I didn't see her touch him this time, but it seemed that she silenced him with her tone of voice instead. "Alec, shut up."

"Like I said," Rosalie bit out angrily. "Stay out of it. It's none of your business."

"Your vanity precedes you, Rosalie, but hypnotizing the girl in order to play with your gift is forbidden. It's all over your face. You don't even need to admit it to me. Emmett, surely you wouldn't let this happen?"

I started getting restless standing in Emmett's shadow. I wanted to see what was happening.

"After all," Jane continued. "You are next in line to be an Elder."

Her high handedness was really irritating me. I wanted to slap her mouth shut.

"And you hate that don't you?" Emmett answered her grimly. "That I am close in line and you are not. Trying to bribe your way into Aro's good graces will not make you an Elder before your time, Jane. It might be better to wait in line for the next four centuries like a good little Gargoyle, and give up your ridiculous plight. Aro will not bend, no matter how many times you kiss his stone ass."

"Where is Carlisle?" Jane asked condescendingly, obviously insulted by what Emmett said. "I demand to speak with him at once. How dare he allow something like this to happen within his Host."

"Who the hell _are _you anyway?!" I yelled, unable to hold my irritation any longer.

Both Rosalie and Emmett turned to glare at me over their shoulders and Jane stepped to the side where I could see her once more.

"I am Jane," she said simply. "And I work for the Aro and the other Elders."

"What...like a spy?" I asked. Alice hushed me by tugging me backward sharply.

"We all work for Aro and the Elders in some way or other," Emmett said to Jane. "You flaunt nothing. So now, if you have seen what you came here to see, leave."

"I can be wherever I want to be. This is not your perch...."

"It is now," Emmett growled, cutting her off with a threatening step forward. "_Leave_, Jane."

"Fine. Have it your way," she clipped.

What happened next unfolded so quickly, I almost saw none of it, nor did I have the time to scream or react in any other way but to freeze in place.

Alec threw himself against Emmett and a nasty brawl between them started in the same second Jane darted toward Rosalie, snatched her up and flew away with her. It happened so quickly and unexpectedly that Rosalie didn't have time to react. Alice grabbed onto me immediately and screamed out to Jasper. The fight between Emmett and Alec was impossible to track. Their two bodies moved so fast it looked like a huge mass of black blur, flitting and twisting and spinning out of control. The ground started to crack underneath them and every few seconds a pale face would stand out, but then get lost in the black blur again. Esme flew off quickly supposedly behind Jane and Rosalie. And Alice screamed at Jasper again.

"I NEED TO BE CAREFUL!" Jasper screamed back, fierce and intense. I didn't even see when he snatched off his gloves. He stood there, with his palms held out toward the fighting blur of Gargoyles, waiting for the opportunity to jump in. The concentration on his face sent a chill down my spine. He really did need to be careful because if he had only touched Emmett by mistake, that would have been it. That wasn't a mistake he wanted to make.

"He'll never make it," I squealed, clutching the sleeve of Alice's cloak, holding the owl with one arm.

It was too hard to watch but still, I couldn't help but stare, panicked and on the verge of a heart attack. Jasper bit down on his jaw and scowled. One second he was standing there glaring angrily at the moving fight, then in the next, he disappeared from my line of vision with a dart, only to reappear a second later with Alec firmly in his grasp. He had Alec by the skin of his neck, holding him with his bare hands. Right there before my eyes Alec's face hardened and the chilling white stone crept out from between Jasper's fingers, cross his neck and up over his face.

"Oh my God," I whispered breathlessly, staring in horror at Alec being turned to stone. "Shit in hell...I can't watch."

The howl of Alec's scream echoed; a terrifying pore raising screech that sounded more like a 'mountain screamer' than a man. His eyes bulged and his skin cracked and his ashen Gargoyle complexion went paper white. As his body calcified to a new stone sculpture his screeching faded and he fell heavily from Jasper's hands onto the ground. On impact, his head was knocked off.

"Whaaaa!"

Emmett wasted no time in flying off, leaving only Jasper, Alice and me behind on the terrace with the headless Gargoyle on the floor.

The strange thing was, Alec hadn't turned into an animal figure like the rest of them did in stone. He hardened in his human form and remained that way. I didn't even realize that I'd stopped breathing until Alice let go of me. Jasper was still staring down at Alec with a maddened, deadly expression on his face. When he raised his eyes to Alice she said, "Go! Help them!"

With a nod, Jasper took off next and hurriedly, Alice pushed me inside through the window.

"What just happened!" I shrieked. Alice was pacing the floor madly, her hands on her hips and her eyes on the floor.

"Alice!" I screamed at her.

"Jane just took Rosalie," Alice said to me with rapt worry in her eyes. "Sweet heaven on earth, Bella. This just got very, _very_ bad."

"I know she took her. But why? And take her where?!!" I tossed the owl carelessly onto the bed, glad to finally let go of the thing, and wrapped my shaking arms around myself. "What does that mean?! How could she just....take Rosalie? Why didn't Rosalie hypnotize her or something?"

"Jane is a stunner," Alice said. "When she touches you, you can't move, talk, respond or use your gifts in any way. She is also very fast, faster than Edward even. And despite Alec's size, he is known for his strength...._was_ known for his strength. All he needed to do was restrain Emmett for a few seconds in order to give Jane a head start."

"Oh my GOD! So she took Rosalie?! Where is she taking her!"

"There's only one place she would take anyone, to the Elders."

"And where is that?!"

"Rome."

"Okay....but....I am thoroughly confused. What does she want with Rosalie?"

"She suspects that Rosalie is going to step in and help you by hypnotizing you, Bella," Alice answered. "And she wants to make sure that doesn't happen."

I shuddered and shook my arms out at my sides. There wasn't a point on the walls my eyes didn't scour. It was virtually impossible to digest anything that had just happened.

"Rosalie is _really_ going to hate me after this," I grunted. "Are they going to hurt her?"

"I don't think so."

Alice continued to pace the floor of the room with her hands on her hips, making it hard for me to follow her with my eyes.

"Will Jasper be in trouble for what he did?" I asked next.

"He was protecting a fellow Host member," she snapped, turning on me as if I was accusing Jasper myself. "Alec was a threat to Emmett and so Jasper had to help. No one else would have been able to stop Alec. The rest of us aren't strong enough."

"But what about your gifts! There must be something that could stop Jane!"

"Esme can help. She is similar to Jane in that she can paralyze, but she needs eye contact to do it. Jane can do it with a touch. What Esme needs to do right now is get Jane to look at her, but she will not be fast enough to catch her. In any case, Jane knows that and will not be outsmarted. Jasper is the only one that can stop Jane, but he is not fast enough. He would need Edward's help to catch her."

"Where the hell is Edward and Carlisle anyway!"

I needed to sit down. I was going crazy in hysterics.

"It is unheard of for a Gargoyle to attack one of his kind for no reason," Alice continued to rant. "Even if we are indestructible, Alec crossed the line by attacking Emmett first. He got what he deserved."

It sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"You're right. This is very bad. And I thought you said it was close to dawn?"

"It is. They will have to turn back. They will not catch Jane tonight."

The voices on the terrace snapped my head toward the window.

"ROSE!" A familiar voice bellowed angrily.

"That's Edward!" I gasped, running toward the window.

Alice dusted past me and skipped through, leaving me behind to climb through on my own strength.

"What the hell happened?" Carlisle asked Alice, standing over Alec's beheaded frame on the ground.

"Edward...." I gasped, running out into the cold.

"Where is Rose?" Edward asked, barely paying me any notice. "Alice. Where is she?"

He turned partially and scanned the terrace. "Carlisle sensed trouble. We were on our way back anyway. Where are the others?"

Alice looked stunned.

"Alice, speak," Carlisle demanded.

"Jane was here," She said. As soon as the name was out of her mouth Carlisle gasped, closed his eyes and turned his back on us. I made my way over to Edward. He put his arm around me, but there was something different about him. He was tense and distracted. He looked angry and he had that dark, sinister look in his eyes that frightened me. I tried to ignore it, but I knew that the events of the night didn't make for sweet rendezvous and cuddling. It was very possible that our "honeymoon of sorts" had just came to an abrupt end. However, I was more frightened than sad.

"And she took Rose," Alice went on.

Edward let go of me then, walked over to the balcony and grabbed onto the stone railing, crushing pieces of it with his hands.

"This is Alec, isn't it?" Carlisle asked, looking down at the statue again.

"Yes. He attacked Emmett."

"Edward?" I asked, touching his back gently. He didn't answer right away. He was glaring down at the ground below, biting down and making his square jaw pop and twist.

"I have to get you inside now," he said softly.

"Will you stay with me?"

"And the others went after her...." I heard Carlisle continue.

"Yes," Alice answered him.

"So Jane knows," Carlisle said.

"She suspects," Alice corrected.

"That's bad enough. Alice....I think it's time. This is it. Are you ready?"

I kept my eyes fastened to Edward's profile, trying my best to ignore the meaning in Carlisle's words. My heart was racing. I wanted to panic but Edward was there. Whenever he was next to me I felt like I could deal with anything. His expression was harsh but despite the tension, he was never more handsome.

"Edward," Carlisle said.

Edward started to shake and the break down in his disposition threatened my composure. I couldn't do anything of this without him. I needed him to be confident. My eyes darted to every point on his profile, searching for the hole in his demeanor where his love for me would still shine through. Was it possible that he was angry with me for what had happened? He turned swiftly, looked at me, took my hand and led me to the window. I glanced at Alice, but she was looking at Alec on the ground. I avoided Carlisle's eyes, afraid to find out what I might see in them. Already, the most gut wrenching, awful feeling was settling in my veins and nothing would drive it out.

"Okay, Carlisle," Edward said, lifting me in through the window.

Once inside, he put me to sit on the bed and knelt on the floor beside it.

"Tell me what's on your mind," I said to him, hating the anxiety in his eyes.

"We always knew it would come to this, right?" He said, keeping his eyes away from mine. I sucked in a sharp breath and gulped, fighting to keep my stinging eyes from spilling over. But the lump in my throat was too big to swallow and it wouldn't let my voice past.

"I need you to be strong for me," he continued, finally shifting his liquid, silvery eyes to mine. His gray pools looked glassy, shining like the two sides of an hour glass with a quiet, dreaded message.....no more time. When I blinked, the water I saw in his poured out from mine.

"Not yet," I pleaded, in a trembling voice. "Please? Not yet..."

"I don't know what else to say but, I love you, Bella. You know that my love for you is the one thing that will not die. It is immortal, even if I am not."

"Edward?" I cried, holding his face between my shaking hands. "What are you saying? What's going to happen?"

"I don't know, but we need to be ready for the worst. And you need to be prepared to..."

His head snapped toward the window then and in the blink of an eye he was outside. I followed much slower and stuck my head out. The Host was back. I counted everyone except Rosalie and my heart plummeted to my stomach. Emmett grabbed Alec's body off the terrace and tossed it angrily over the side, screaming out in rage. I gasped and jumped back inside behind the curtains. I had never seen any of them that angry before. For the first time since willingly submitting myself to their world I felt like I was in danger. I completely understood if Emmett needed to hate me for what had happened and I was afraid of what that meant.

It was my fault. I had brought this upon them all and they didn't deserve it. They only ever tried to do the right thing.

My tears came harder. I clutched onto my stomach and bent over desolately, crying for Emmett's loss and for my agony for Edward. Already I was in the depths of despair and I hadn't even lost Edward yet.

"Bella," Edward whispered, suddenly at my side. I felt his hands on me, lifting me to my feet.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed as he took me back to the bed. "This is all my fault, isn't it?"

"No. It is mine. From the very beginning, this has been my fault and I deserve to take the fall for it."

"You deserve no such thing, Edward." I cried as he pushed me to lay down.

"You have no choice but to accept this now, Bella. There are things neither of us can control and there comes a point when fighting and crying will work no more."

I could barely respond to him. I buried my face in the pillow and cried, reeling and bucking and coughing through tears.

"Do you want me to stay with you today?" He asked.

I raised my teary face and looked up at him, blinking through the haze of water.

"What?"

"I will stay with you if you want me to," he said, scanning my face with loving but tormented eyes.

"But....you....you never agree to that," I sobbed. "You always tell me no."

It could only have meant one thing. I fell over on the bed and cried harder, clutching the sheets in my fists. He tried to soothe me with his hands, but nothing would help me; nothing but the promise of his survival.

"It's our last isn't it?" I sobbed relentlessly. "It's our last day..."

"I didn't say that...I don't know."

He lifted me upright and held my face between his hands, wiping at my tears with his thumbs.

"But you think it."

"My love," he whispered, bringing us nose to nose. Even _his _voice seemed to shake. "I need to know that you can do this.....I can't see you like break. I've never been able to see you suffer without the gravest of difficulty. You're hurting me."

"But I don't know how to be brave," I cried. He kissed me and the kiss was tumultuous. The passion stole my breath and already as it was, I was having a hard time managing between sobs.

"You are the bravest person I know," he whispered against my lips. "Just look at where you've ended up and everything you risked to be with me. There isn't another heart like yours in this world."

"You're making it harder!" I cried out. "When you say things like that to me...I can't bare it....Edward....I can't do this."

"Do it for me," he begged. And I cried harder. "Do it for our love, Bella. Turn away from this and live on....with me in your heart."

"Okay...." I sobbed, clinging to his hair desperately, kissing him as if they were the last kisses we would ever have. "For you..."

"I will stay today."

"Please."

I felt his torture pass through his kiss but he had to let go because it was almost dawn. He went to the window and closed it. Then he livened the fire in the fireplace and checked the locks on the bedroom door. I watched him do everything with the sheets clung to my chest, recording those moments in my mind and locking his image inside forever. He lifted the wooden chest next and jammed it behind the door to make sure no one could get in.

There was a knock on the window then and he went over to open it.

"Are you staying with her today?" It was Jacob.

"Yes. I want to. Please don't argue."

"I am not here to argue. You will need help."

"What kind of help?"

"Reinforcement."

Edward stepped aside for Jacob to pass. When Jacob bounded in, he raised a hand to me, but he didn't smile. The horror of that night managed to dampen even _his _mood. I'd thought nothing could wipe that mischief off his face. He was always so ready to make the best out of a bad situation. But that night I saw just how far his loyalty to Edward stretched. Sleeping within human reach was unheard of and never done, but he was willing to do it to show support for Edward.

"What are you doing Jake?" Edward asked.

"I'm not leaving you in here on your own. If you do this....so do I."

"I blocked the door."

"If someone really wanted to get in here Edward, you think a century year old chest wouldn't stop them?"

Edward sighed and Jacob pushed the chest away from the door then took a wide legged stance behind it with his arms folded across his chest.

"Anyone else?" Edward asked to the open window with an arched, tired eyebrow. His voice was dull and heavy.

"I might as well," Alice said, jumping in.

"And I'm not letting her do this without me," Jasper said, appearing next.

No one else came inside and with a labored sigh, Edward closed the window and turned to face his friends. They formed a barricade behind the door, standing side by side.

"You are all insane," he said to them.

"Who's worse than you?" Jake responded.

"Touche," Edward answered and managed to smile a little.

I stared blankly at them all, overwhelmed by the gift of the adventure that was allowed me. I was about the witness four Gargoyles transform at the same time; three of which formed the Gargoyle barricade to protect the one at my side. There was never a bond stronger than theirs.

"One minute," Edward said, kneeling at the side of the bed again, holding his hand across to me with his palm facing upward.

I was a mess of anxiety, pain and awe. I took his hand and he squeezed gently for a few seconds before letting go.

"Stay clear," he said. I nodded and pushed my back up against the wall, facing them all. I only had to blink twice before they were all naked, Edward on his knees and the others standing before me; shameless, confident and focused.

I blushed, trying not to notice anyone else but Edward, but the pale perfection of their glistening contours drew my eyes to them. Only Jake was a slightly darker shade and the smooth, olive tone of his body made him beautiful and exotic.

I shifted my self conscious gaze back to Edward. He winked at me and the glint of humor in his eye catapulted my heart in my chest.

"Three....two....see you tonight."

And at the first stream of light, the gory transformations started all at once. It came with a deep, earthy rumble, the twisting of heads, the harsh crack of breaking stone and the haunting howl of one wolf. I looked at Edward. His sockets filled in with the whitish gray substance, coating his eyes completely. Awestruck, I clasped my hands over my mouth and smothered my gasps as Edward continued to stare at me with his blank, silent stone gaze.

* * *

**A/N: It's difficult I know! Go through this with me please :) What's a little angst when there's so much love involved? **

**Please review and let me know you are out there. Thanks.**


	18. Chapter 17 Ready or Not

**A/N: **I am so nervous about this chapter. I know it took forever, but the closer I get to the end of this story the harder it is to write because it makes me so anxious. Almost to the end! If I don't answer your reviews on this chap it's because I am too afraid to...lol! So please don't hold it against me. I still haven't gotten to my reviews on the last chapter yet because of all sorts of lame excuses, but I will respond to you, I promise. I love you all and thank you for your support with this story. It is deeply appreciated.

Also, Stoneward now has a Twitter account. Please follow him! He chats! (Stoneward__ ) Mine is Psyche001. Follow me for updates, teasers and notices on this story and the ones to come. It's always nice to connect with my readers and I'm sure those of you who already follow me have discovered what a nut job I actually am. Were you disappointed?? Sorry! * snicker *

Happy Reading

*********

**Chapter 17**

**Ready or not...**

**Edward**

"What was all that about?" Bella asked, forcing eye contact between us. "Why are we up here instead of in my room, Edward?"

I gave in to the frantic, searching pull of her eyes, trying to draw from the groomed confidence that was supposedly innate to a Gargoyle.

"That is not your room, Bella," I answered. "That is the bedroom of a castle."

"Stop avoiding the question. I'm so nervous and scared right now. Nothing feels the same. Nothing feels right."

I sighed in her face and came to a stop in the sky. The wind picked up and tossed her hair about her face and shoulders, creating a dark canopy for her pale skin. She flicked her chin slightly to displace the locks but they only fell back into place. With one hand I helped her, brushing the hair away from her eyes and watched as my affection calmed her minutely.

"Of course nothing feels right," I said. "Absolutely anything is possible at this point with Rosalie kidnapped and Alec dead. Is that what you want to hear?"

The dreadful look in her eyes shifted something inside of my chest and I regretted my brevity immediately.

"I just wanted you to myself for a while, okay? To take you away from the chaos before it gets any worse," I said in reparation.

Try all I might, there was no lying to that girl. She read me with as much effort it took to master an infant's storybook.

"What you mean to say is....." she began, taking a deep breath. "That you want to do this.....one last time."

I didn't answer because I couldn't. Everything was horribly wrong. The safety of the entire host was now in jeopardy because of what happened the night before. Emmett was a numb shell of shock; Alec was dead; Rosalie was gone; Alice was afraid for Jasper and Carlisle was nervous.

Carlisle never got nervous.

Every beat of my heart felt like the tick of my last seconds on earth and there was no prayer in the world strong enough to reverse it. In the midst of all the chaos, Bella even forgot to ask me about my conversation with Carlisle; the reason he and I were out for most of the night before. She was so stunned by everything that happened and now with the threat of the elders looming so much closer and sooner than before, her mind was preoccupied. Still, I waited in silent dread for her moment of recollection, knowing with certainty that since Rosalie's abduction, everything Carlisle told me was suddenly nullified.

"For once, shut up, stop worrying and just be with me. You have me now_, _Isabella."

A cascade of tears spilled from her eyes and with the most heartbreaking of expressions on her face, she leaned in and kissed me. There was no difference between the taste of her tears and her saliva anymore. They mixed and became the same salty flavor as her tears rolled down her cheeks, into her mouth and smeared everywhere under the trace of my lips.

She trembled, and by God so did I. Her heart made a deafening internal racket, pounding so hard inside of her chest even human ears would hear. And her fettered desperation that was never far beneath her skin came rushing out all over me. We very quickly got carried away up there, becoming lost in the darkness and the cloud of our hysteria for each other.

"Touch me, please," she choked out in a hoarse whisper.

I just knew the torment on my face was killing her as much as hers was killing me. But there was nothing to do about that except to give in to the torture and let it cut deep. The only way to purge ourselves of it was to let it run its course.

I lifted her legs around my waist and slid my hands under her coat and shirt, relishing in her comfort despite my cold hands. She hugged tightly, kissing me deeply and whimpering into my mouth. I held her around her back with one arm and searched out her breasts with my other hand, knowing the curves of her body to perfection. Finding the erect knobs of pleasure made me groan in tune with her and when I pinched, the spout of her core responded automatically.

I smelled it even before it came gushing down and out, to moisten the crotch that was pressed so tightly against me. The scent drove me mad, and in that instant the only thought that registered was having her right then and there; hovering in the high skies away from the confines of the castle.

I swallowed and felt my insides shudder under her drugging halo, not caring to resist the very passion that made us, us. I took my arm out from under her shirt and held her on the outside so that I could grab her by her hair and pull her head back. I was going to make sure she knew how badly I wanted and needed her and that nothing was powerful enough to override it. She gasped when her head fell back in response to my tug and I ran my tongue along the skin of her neck, wanting to draw from her warmth. It clung to me immediately and I felt the slow build up of heat start to spread through my loins. Pulling her head to the side, I sucked down on her neck and drew her hot blood to the surface. She groaned and closed her eyes, opening herself to me wantonly. I hissed between breaths, driven near the edge just by the mere scent of her skin and the rhythm of her pulse. While holding her there, I let go of her breast and unbuttoned her pants, freeing her in a mock second. My fingers found her easily, slipping past her blood swollen peak to delve between her moist sheaths. The cry she let out made me bite the spot I was sucking, and that bite made her cry out harder.

The difficulty of our position didn't restrain us in the least. To get my hand comfortably between her legs, she only had to pull her hips off me a little, and the small space that came between us as a result was easily forgiven for the sake of her pleasure. However, I felt rushed, because amidst my fraught need to touch and hear her scream, I couldn't tune out the oncoming sounds in the distance. Something triggered off inside of me when I realized what it was and in my moment of panicked despair I turned her face toward me and crushed her lips with mine. Determined to fill myself with her one last time, I ignored the alarm and started stroking her clit, using the slippery, drug scented moist of her core against my thumb. She writhed ecstatically and pushed her tongue deeper into my mouth, tearing hard at the roots of my hair. My strokes got frantic, rubbing up, down and around the wet, flickering knob; dying against the desire to lift her up to my face so that I could take it in my mouth instead.

She whimpered against my lips, unable to kiss properly as my fingers fondled her feverishly.

"I can't breathe," she whispered breathlessly. "Edward I......" And she gasped as her head fell back, nearing her orgasm.

I was squeezing her too tightly. I felt the resistance of every bone in her body under the panicking force of my arm around her back. But still, I couldn't let go.

Just then Alice's voice of warning slammed into focus. "Edward!" And I blotted it out, thankful that Bella's human ears couldn't hear it.

I grunted harshly and quickened my pace, likening it to an angry impatience, feeling my erection fight for its place at the nape of her thighs. Her erotic cries and flushed cheeks undid me to completion and without a careful thought, I pulled myself out of my pants, dropped her legs, freed one of her legs from her pants, tore her underwear away and lined us up the way we were meant to be. Her eyes widened but her shock was soon displaced by a smile of encouragement. One needy thrust later and with my forehead pressed firmly to hers, I was halfway inside.

"Edward!" Alice continued to approach.

"No," I grunted rebelliously and pulled Bella's hips against me harder so that I could take her away.

"Fuck!" She screamed, both from the shock of the pain and my sudden take off. I was inside of her, her legs wrapped around my waist, the wind beating at our faces, my wings pushing us through the sky away from Alice and the oncoming disaster.

As we flew with her back horizontal to the ground, I created the wall and pushed myself in deeper, unable to wait for her to acclimatize to the wall that time. Her head fell back and she cried out and though it hurt her, she didn't complain or try to stop me. She only tightened her thighs around me more. Alice's voice faded as I gained more distance. And having given myself a rough head start, I stopped again, put us vertical and ground her hips down on me harshly. She fell against me and threw her face into my neck, digging her nails into my scalp and biting on my coat collar to absorb her screams.

Any tighter and I would have crushed her through my wrought panic. Her internal muscles were moist and hot, lapping around my erection invitingly, making it swell and grow impossibly harder. My thrusts weren't gentle nor were they precise and every crash into her proved as much since she screamed for dear life with my coat collar gripped firmly between her teeth. She sensed my desperation. It wasn't hard to tell. My urgency and despair at what was about to happen translated itself through every touch and rabid thrust into her. Where I was usually careful, I was greedy and where I was usually tender, I grated like the harsh surface of a stone against silk. Still she clung to me with every tether of her body and soul, muffling her screams with a mouthful of coat, pulling furiously at my hair; fusing us so tightly that a fraction of the earth's smallest molecule couldn't pass between us.

I then heard Alice's voice approaching again, and by the tone of it, all patience was lost.

"Edwarrrd!" Now they were both screaming my name in unison. Bella, in sexual upheaval and Alice, in warning.

"Edward!"

"Bella..." I grunted as I quickened my pace inside of her, daring to test the depth of her threshold for pain.

"I love you!" She blurted out. I pressed my lips to her neck and fought the lump in my throat; the proof of my weakness for this girl. I was nearing my orgasm. It became progressively easier to slide in and out of her as her passage opened itself naturally. Her body grew hotter, bubbling around me. Her cheeks were pooled with swirls of riled blood. Her breath on my neck was wet. Her legs around me were buckled. Her insides were dripping; but her orgasm wouldn't come.

I tried to reign mine in to wait for hers, hearing the space between Alice and us close in with every second. I shoved harder and harder, faster and faster. She screamed louder and the inflection in her voice stoked me. She was too distraught to peak, too afraid to let go and the pain of my urgency overrode her pleasure.

"I'm hurting you...." I grunted.

"I don't care."

"Edward! Now!" Alice screamed in the distance, gaining on us. I darted further away still and closed my eyes as the hot trickles of my orgasm started bursting out.

"I can't stop it!" I ground out through clenched teeth. "Bella....."

"Then don't stop it," Bella gasped breathlessly. "I love you. Take me...take me, Edward."

And so I did. I exploded inside of her, filling her up, pulling her so tightly to me, so lost in my shackles of panic and despair, that something in her body snapped.

"ARRRGH!!" She wailed.

"Fuck!" I reacted.

"Edward!" Alice continued to call.

"Bella?!" I shrieked and pulled myself out of her, scouring her body with horrified eyes. "What did I do?!"

"ARRRGGHH!" She twisted in pain, near tearing my hair from my roots as her sobs grew frantic. She could barely breathe she was panting so hard.

With a pass of my hand over her back, I found the damage. I had broken three ribs and part of her shoulder bone. Healing her was the easy part. I only had to touch the spots before her sobs were tempered and she calmed down again. The hard part was what happened next.

"Are you trying to get us all killed?!!!" A furious Alice shrieked as she caught up to us finally. I took the fragments of the wall out quickly, got Bella into her pants and sorted myself out before responding to Alice. Alice never flinched. Her face was a pale distortion of urgency and anger....everything that cut my heart from its perch and made it drop to the pit of my stomach. "We had a deal! What are you doing running away from me?!?!"

"I'm not running. How bad is it?" I grunted, ignoring her chastisement. The other sounds in the distance grew nearer. Bella clung tighter, the clamoring of her startled heart doing great at drowning everything else out.

The look in Alice's eyes was all I needed. That and the encroaching sounds of warning. Bella dropped her face against my neck and started sobbing again. Her instincts told her. She knew. She tightened her arms around my neck and my insides froze up. Then suddenly, they were everywhere....

*****A few hours earlier*****

**Bella**

I knelt on the bed in front of the gargoyle barricade and stared, biting my fingernails and restraining the itch to touch them. I couldn't sleep that day. The overwhelming nature of my anxiety put a firm wedge between rest and me and left me fidgety.

It was incredible having them in the bedroom with me all at once; sturdy, strong, monstrous and beautiful. They never got that close to humans when in stone and the fact that they did it with me showed a level of trust I thought they were incapable of. Even though it had more to do with their loyalty to Edward than to me, it still honored me and I felt lucky.

Half the morning passed with me keeping my hands mostly to myself, because apart from Edward, I knew that the others didn't particularly like to be touched. But I couldn't restrain the itch after a while and gave in with a guilty conscience.

I crawled across to the edge of the bed and took the lion's face in my hands first. It was the first time I was face to face with him when he was like that. Every other time he had been too high up on his hind legs and out of reach. At such close range he was as breathtaking as he was alarming; fierce and every bit as characteristic as a snarly lion. But his eyes were familiar even in their stony blankness. And after coming to know them so well, there was no mistaking that he was inside there somewhere, looking back at me in quiet restraint.

The nerves in my body started to knot as I dared to do what, perhaps, I had wanted to do ever since knowing what he was. I leaned over, closed my eyes and pressed my lips to his. My eyes shot open again when a throaty rumble caught me off guard and made me jump back slightly.

"Edward?" I whispered. But of course, there was no answer but the blank stare behind the white washed stone. So I did it again. I kissed him, chaste but sweet, never feeling for one moment like I was kissing the statue of a lion. I was kissing Edward.

There was no sound that time around, so I ran my hands down the side of his face and leaned my forehead against him.

"Could this be the last time I see you like this?"

The silence was almost deafening.

I near went out of my mind that day, sitting with and staring at five gargoyles; engaged in a series of one way conversations. I touched them all reverently and thanked them for everything they had done. I also apologized for the trouble I caused within their host and specifically for Rosalie. At the mention of her name I felt a dark shadow settle over the room and I swung around to face the window in alarm not knowing what to expect. There was nothing there of course, save for the howling of the winter wind on the outside, and the strangled glow of the covered sun. With a gulp, a case of goosebumps and shifty eyes, I turned back to the magnificent, stone barricade and continued to explain.

****

No one bothered us in the room that day, and for the first time since knowing Edward, I was terrified of nightfall. I actually wished it wouldn't come because I knew with some level of eerie certainty that that night would not be kind. Countless times I opened the window and looked up at the clouds, then slammed it shut again as if shutting the world out. I paced. I bit my nails. I leaned on Edward's back. I rested my head on him. I kissed his mane. I picked at some fruit. I took a quick bath. I touched them all again. Then I sat down with our journal.

I flipped through to his last entries and at the sight of my name, my heart lurched for some reason and I slammed the book shut. He didn't want me reading it before he was done, or at the very least, not until we were separated. But still, the urge to peek was insatiable and I had to open it again.

With a smirking glance at him, I opened the book.

"Shut up," I said, cheekily. "You can argue with me about it later. Just one paragraph and I promise I'll put it away."

****

"_She thinks she is to blame for this. The guilt lives in her eyes. She carries it around like a bending weight that has started to affect her posture. That new slouch in her shoulders is slight but it cracks my heart a little more every time I look at her."_

Istraightened my back self consciously then and glanced at him with a questioning frown.

"_I'm afraid to tell her what I know because she has suffered so much already. She will argue, but she doesn't see what I see when I look at her. And how can she, when all she looks at anymore is me? Her grief has etched itself into her features, maturing her beyond her years. And as much as she tries to hide it, the light in her eyes is dead. Her eyes are dead. I killed them. Even her body has changed since I have been inside of her and the damage scorched me in a way not even death will vanquish. _

"_My healing hands bent her, then tried to fix her again but there is only so much they can heal. The rest is irreversible, like that pain in her chest that I can never seem to reach. I have taken this girl, stolen her soul, bent her body and twisted her mind...and yet, she loves me. And there is nothing and no one I have ever loved in this world more than her. From the very beginning we were destined for tragedy it seems, since nothing this beautifully wrong is allowed the light of day."_

It was suddenly too heavy to hold. I closed it and let it fall to the rug by my knees, making it land with a cushioned thud.

"Screw the light of day, Edward" I muttered. "And screw the night too. Screw the entire world for making something as wonderful as you and wanting to keep you a secret. And screw them for killing you. They're killing me too. A part of me will die with you and there is nothing you can do about it. It wasn't you that did this to me. It was them."

I got to my feet and walked over to him agitatedly.

"This slouch?" I pointed to my shoulders with my thumbs, though I tried to straighten them. "This face? These dead eyes? It was _them_ that did it, Edward, not you. You made me happy and they're about to curse that all because of some stupid pact from two hundred _fucking_ years ago."

Then I pointed at him with an abrasive index and narrowed my eyes. "If you stop taking the blame for this, so will I. And since when is love a fucking crime anyway? Beautifully wrong.....pfft."

And there the deep rumbling was again. I lowered my face alongside his and poked him in his lion face.

"That better be you agreeing with me."

****

And so night came, despite my telepathic attempts to preserve the sun. I backed up against the wall on the bed and stared at the barricade in the last moments of the setting sun, and waited anxiously. Coming to life was always easier to watch than them turning to stone. It was quicker, happened with graceful ease and seemed to be a lot less painful for them. Within a few seconds after they turned they were all fully dressed and ready for the night.

Edward crawled onto the bed immediately and pulled me into his arms.

"Hi," he said. I exhaled heavily and dropped my face against his chest with a thud.

"Ouch."

"Bella," Jake said in acknowledgement as he left the room. He gave me a small wave.

"Night Bella," Alice said next, following Jake out.

Jasper only waved as he jumped through the frame. They were all anxious to get to something and it was obvious that it had to do with Rosalie.

"Aren't they going to need your help?" I asked Edward.

"I'm not leaving you tonight," he answered as he stroked my hair and kissed my hairline. "You haven't slept all day, Bella."

"Would you stop worrying about how much sleep I get? I'm fine."

That wasn't entirely true. I'd already started feeling the effects of two days and one night encroaching, but the potent quality of my adrenaline helped.

"You're a liar," he said with a small smile. His face however, showed signs of strain.

Try all I might I couldn't stop thinking about Rosalie and Alec and about what it meant. I read the part in his journal about him not wanting to tell me about something he knew, but I forgot about it almost as soon as I read it. At the time, the trauma of losing Rosalie like we did frightened me and it was all I could think about. Was Jasper in trouble? Was the_ host_ in trouble? Was I in trouble? Where was Rosalie and what would they do to her? Would she tell them everything? And what about Emmett.....

God, just thinking about Emmett made my stomach sting with anxiety. I didn't know how I would ever face him again.

I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my face into Edward's chest.

"What is it?" He asked with his lips pressed on my hair.

"I feel like I should say something to Emmett, but I don't know what."

"It's not your fault, Bella. Rose and Emmett put themselves in the situation willingly knowing what both Jane and Alec were capable of."

"But they were trying to protect me."

"Look at me," he said, raising my face so that we were eye to eye. He pulled his eyebrows together and gave me that serious, no nonsense, brooding look that always stole my breath. "We were made to protect. It's ingrained in our psyches to the point where we don't know how to act any differently. Rose and Emmett weren't trying to be noble. They were doing what they were created for. It is our call, so you need not feel as if they were doing you a favor and got trapped because of it. In any case, Jane and Alec crossed a dangerous line. They attacked one of their own kind without just cause and that will work against Jane."

"I will never understand your world," I said with a heavy sigh. "As much as I am intrigued by it, I will never understand it. It's too complicated."

"It's like the saying goes...with great power comes great responsibility. And so stringency is necessary. You aren't supposed to understand it in any case, Bella. You are human."

"I will pretend you didn't just say that like it's a curse or some shit."

He chuckled lightly and kissed my forehead.

Carlisle then poked his head in through the window in search of Edward.

"Edward," he called.

Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me off the bed immediately, throwing me off balance in the process.

"Get your coat," he demanded.

"Huh? Where are we going?"

He bit down on his jaw and cast me an impatient glance.

"Just get it."

While putting it on I listened to their brief and heated exchange.

"Why are you running from this?" Carlisle asked.

"I am not running. If there is something you need me to do, I will do it, but please, just give me a while with her first."

"Things have changed drastically, Edward."

"Don't you think I know that?"

"Then act like it. Rose was taken and you have yet to talk to Emmett about it."

"You know as well as I do that Emmett will soon snap out of it...." His voice trailed off and he glanced at me quickly.

"That isn't the point," Carlisle said. "He doesn't know yet and as far as he is concerned right now, his mate was kidnapped while trying to protect yours."

"Don't be a hypocrite, Carlisle," Edward said, holding his hand out to me. "You know I'm not happy about what happened to Rose, but trying to guilt me into giving you a reaction won't work. Maybe what happened was for the best anyway. Have you thought about that? You know how I feel about all of this. I'm uncomfortable with it. At least now she's safe from hurting herself....for all the wrong reasons."

"Edward..."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'll be in the sky. If you guys come up with an action plan and you're ready for my help, you know I'll be there. Just call me."

"Where are you going?"

"Not far."

"Edward, do you think it's wise to take Bella out there tonight? The perimeter has not been marked."

"We are no safer here than we are out there and hiding won't prevent them from coming. Let them come."

I didn't know what to make of any of it. I was entirely confused and befuddled, and the dredging nervousness in my stomach just kept getting worse and worse.

****

We had the most sensational sex in the sky. It hurt; it burned; he dug deeper than he ever dared to dig before and he lost control. I cried, not only because my human body failed to give him what he needed from me, but because it was obvious in his hysteria that he knew it was our last time together. There was no possible way to make that sweet and endearing. It was rough and painful and the passion in his kisses branded me. Every emotion he had poured out of him and connected harshly with me. And though he tried to keep the truth in his eyes hidden, his body told me everything. Edward was falling apart in the sky because he didn't know how to say good bye; and neither did I. Everything we tried to prepare ourselves for over the past few weeks had arrived. And needless to say, we still were not ready.

"Are you trying to get us killed?!!!" Alice yelled at him. One minute it was just Edward and me, and then all of a sudden Alice was there screaming her head off at him. I wasn't even embarrassed that she pulled up on us in a sexually compromising position. "We had a deal! What are you doing running away from me?!?!"

"I am not running," he said flatly. "How bad is it?"

I hated the look she gave him then. It reeked of defeat and compliance. The truth finally hit me with blunt force and the next thing I knew, the host members were there circling us frantically with whirring circles.

"Alice. Now! You have to do it now! I won't be far behind!" Jasper called.

Alice looked at me then with wide, apologetic eyes and Edward tightened his arms around me possessively.

"What's going on?" I asked her dumbly, though I already knew. Heavy droplets of tears bounced off my eyelashes with every hysterical blink.

"I'm sorry, Bella," she said, shooting Edward another pained look. She then put her hands on my arms and started prying me away from him.

"What are you doing!?!" I screamed at her, tightening my grip on Edward. I looked at Edward frantically and though his arms didn't let go, the look on his face was blank and shell shocked. He was just frozen there....unresponsive and numb.

"Edward!" I screamed. "Edward!"

"Bella, it's time," Alice said, impatietly.

"You don't have much time girls," Carlisle called from the outer circle. "You have to leave..._now!_"

"She won't let go!" Alice shrieked. "If I tear her off I will hurt her!"

"EDWARRRD!"

He blinked and something that looked like a tear glistened in his eye. His eyes dropped to my lips then touched every inch of my face in painful appraisal, as if he was trying to memorize me by heart.

"They're coming," he said, robotically. "This is it. I can't believe this is it." He said it almost like a question and my heart shattered into a million pieces.

I shook my head manically, refusing to believe that it was actually happening; wondering why on earth I hadn't yet woken from this sick nightmare to find Edward resting peacefully at my side. It was a dream...it had to be. I was still at home in Seattle and this entire thing was a dream. I needed to wake up. I needed him to be real and right there next to me, telling me it was all going to be okay and that it was just a nightmare; that he was here and never ever going away.

"But they already know about me," I grunted with a violently trembling voice, refusing to let go of him; half in Alice's arms, half in his. "Jane would have told them. What is the point in taking me away, now? They will only come to find me."

"We will cross that bridge when we get to it," Jake came in. "Right now, it is better that the elders do not find you here and if you keep this up...they will."

"LEAVE!" Emmett shrieked. "They're almost here...there are too many...and they're moving fast!" He shot Esme a crazy look. She flitted uncontrollably then disappeared from my sight.

"Esme!" Carlisle cried out. "What are you going to do?!"

"Get them out of here!" Esme screamed back, her voice echoing.

"ALICE!!!"

Alice acted without warning then and pulled me roughly from Edward's arms. He let her, though he didn't release my coat. His fingers curled into the fabric; the sharp grimace on his face embedding itself in my mind indelibly.

"Edward....." I pleaded with him for some kind of help....any kind of help. "I can't do this..." The tears in my eyes blurred my vision and twisted his painful expression into a swirl of horror. I felt his fingers dig holes into my coat with the force of his clutch. There was movement everywhere; screaming voices; echoing voices; whirring sounds; huge gusts of wind; howling.... I was going out of my fucking mind.

"Do I have to do this myself?!!" Emmett barked, coming right up to the side of Edward's face, glowering at him menacingly.. "It is over! They are moving fast! GO _NOW_!"

"I love you," Edward said then, prying his fingers from the holes in my coat.

"Edward...." For some reason, I kept repeating his name and shaking my head stubbornly. It was all I could do and say.

"You have to go now, baby," he said through clenched teeth, his eyebrows pinned so tightly together it may have dented his forehead.

I sobbed in defeat as I felt my finger nails peel back against the sleeves of his coat with Alice's persistent tugging.

"I don't want to hurt you, Bella," Alice grunted, alarmingly. "Please let him go!"

Edward passed his hands over my forearms then, keeping his stare locked with mine and very gently took me by my wrists and pulled my hands off.

"Alice," Jasper warned.

"I'm trying!" Alice shrieked.

"TRY HARDER!" Emmett screamed.

"Go," Edward whispered into my face, touching my cheek. "I will always be with you."

"Not like this...." I shook my head and begged to no avail. And though I knew that wouldn't change anything, I couldn't help it. Then he looked at Alice and nodded.

"Take her."

Free of my clutch, Edward blinked and turned away, and something very literally started to choke me as I felt Alice move into action. I grabbed at my throat as she took off with me in her arms, suffocating, gasping for air, on the verge of passing out from anxiety. I watched in stunned despair as the members of the Cullen Host started fading to black right there before my very eyes.

"Wait!" I heard Edward call out a few seconds later. I almost died of relief when his face came into focus again.

"Edward!" I gasped.

"Bella...." He grabbed my face hungrily and kissed me deep; painfully and saturated with love. His mouth was hard and his tongue was cool, and I clung to his face with my trembling hands, dying in his touch.

"Te valde amo ac semper amabo," he whispered to me, pressing his forehead to mine.

"What does that mean?" I wept mournfully, my tears soaking my face and his.

"It means...." he choked out. "That I love you very much....and always will....forever."

"I love you too. Even before I knew you...I loved you. You are a permanent part of me now."

"Jasper will be close behind. He will bring the journal to you. Keep it safe."

I nodded against his forehead as he wiped my tears away softly. He turned to Alice and touched her head affectionately, and it was only then I realized that this was his goodbye to her too. Once she left with me, Alice would not be seeing Edward again.

They shared a quiet moment through their eyes, then he brushed her lips with an innocent kiss and pinched her chin.

"I love you too, Ally. You have never been anything but good to me. Thank you for this."

"I love you, little brother," and she touched her chest meaningfully. "And I have an eternity to keep you in my heart. Be brave."

Then as if it was suddenly too much for her to bear anymore she darted away, taking me with her. And his face, so beautiful and torn under the moon's glow, disappeared from my sight and blended with the night.

* * *

**A/N:** That's not classified as a cliffhanger. Please don't hurt me! Mary, put away the fish! And that box of empty tissues! That shit stings.

Please review! I am so nervous about this chap that I would DIE if you don't talk to me. Please don't let me die.

Special love to Annie and my Twitter family!

I cried actual tears while writing this. Like really started to sob and then felt so foolish afterward. What can I say, I love these ppl and I hurt when they hurt. Is that crazy?? What do you think is going to happen?? You won't want to miss it!


	19. Chapter 18 Stop and Go

**A/N**: Hey guys, short note this time around. Thank you for all the incredible reviews I got on the last chapter. I will get around to answering you, but as I mentioned before, I get more overwhelmed as I approach the end of this tale. I got the most reviews I ever got on a chapter last time around and I'm hoping we can beat that score with this one! Thanks for your support and for all your lovely words of encouragement

**News: **This story was just nominated for two Silent Tear Awards (Best AU and Best Angst). I will give the details about voting when I know more about it. Please vote! Nik..you know who you are and I'm loving you more with every day. Thanks BB! Please follow me on Twitter for details (Psyche001)

**Warning:** I promised no tears with this one, and I don't think there will be any but it's definitely a WTF chapter..lol. I REALLY can't wait to hear your comments about this....*anxious*. And you get a bonus! POVs from two peeps we haven't heard from yet. Surprise!

Love you guys and Happy Reading :)

**Chapter 18**

**Stop and Go**

**Emmett**

We didn't need to see them to know they were there. We felt them; with the hair raising sensation of what inner static electricity might feel like to a human. Esme panicked when Alice couldn't pull Bella away as soon as we'd hoped and raced off toward the perimeter; presumably to create some kind of diversion. And once Alice and Bella finally left, Carlisle followed Esme.

For the first time in all my years with Carlisle, he actually looked overwhelmed. That was not a good sign. He needed support; to keep his host together as we started crumbling from within. And seeing that I was next in command I had to step up.

"Jake, go help Carlisle and Esme," I ordered, and he took off without hesitation. "Jasper, take everything that belongs to Isabella out of that room and use it for your diversion. _Fast. _Edward, you're coming with me."

Edward needed someone to snap him out of his stupor quickly. He looked as ashen as a ghost, and that was saying a lot since his natural pallor already resembled white washed stone. I took hold of his arm, about to tug him back to the castle terrace to talk, but he pulled away from me and turned his face toward the oncoming vibrations. Right before my eyes his stunned expression transformed to blunt anger, darkening his eyes to black pools of vehemence.

"Edward..." I said cautiously, wary of that uncontrolled tension twitching behind in his jaw. I'd seen him like that too many times to not know what was next....rebellion. "It's important that you stay focused and relax."

How do you tell a man that just lost everything, including his life, to relax? It sounded like the right thing to say to him at the time, and of course, he didn't appreciate it.

He tuned to me with a flickering glare, about to exhale fire from his flared nostrils if he could.

"I am sorry about Rose," he said in a coarse tone. "She stepped in to help Bella in my absence, and despite her harsh methods I know that the well being of this host was always at the center of her heart. There is a good reason Emmett, for why I haven't talked to you about this before now, and even still I am unsure how to, but I'm about to make things right."

"Make it right....what do you mean...."

And without another word, he sped off toward the perimeter, leaving my words suspended in the air.

"Edward wait!" I screamed after him, knowing there was absolutely no point in trying to catch him. Still, I tried. Nothing would calm him down by that point. With nothing left to lose, he was ready to murder himself in the name of standing up to the elders. He had craved that moment for two hundred years, and now at the end of his last tether, he saw his chance.

But what was his good reason for not talking to me about Rosalie sooner? It sounded like a loaded statement. Just the sound of her name unearthed something alien in me and had it not been for the chaos surrounding us, I would have forced him to explain himself right then and there.

The strangest reactions started occurring in me ever since Rose was taken. At first I was blindly furious, to the point where the red behind my eyes phased to a stark, glaring white; shunning everything but her framed face from my thoughts. I was devastated, near crushed to my core, and just about ready to rip the head off of any Gargoyle within a hundred mile radius.

However, by the time I woke up the night after, the radical shift started taking place. It came intermittently; like a numb emptiness that drowned my anger. The effect only lasted for a few seconds at a time, seemingly sucking the living agony right out of me. But then it would disappear just as quickly as it appeared, and the distress returned. Back and forth I went between fury and numb confusion, not knowing what was happening and having no choice but to ignore it.

The attack on Rose felt like a personal blow. She was mine for more centuries than I was able to count anymore; riding the nights out next to me and oblivious to reason when it meant taking my side. She consumed me, naturally. And her beauty rivaled the most bewitching the world had ever seen; owning a lost part of my soul that I was unable to tap into anymore. At times it felt like she owned me, like I was her belonging more than her partner in love, but those moments were few and in between and easily forgotten once she gave herself to me freely.

She had flaws of course; ones that perhaps should have been unforgivable. Her infatuation with Edward was most obvious but for some unexplained reason, I could never find it inside of myself to be jealous. Her mind and heart wandered often, like the wayfaring soul she was, but she knew where home was and she always returned. One look into her eyes, and I was placated.

I didn't worry about her safety when Jane took her. I was more insulted at Jane's audacity than worried for Rose's well being. If there was ever a thing I learned about my girl during our centuries together it was that she knew how to take care of herself. She was never taken advantage of, manipulated, or made submissive in any way...not under any circumstance. That was _her_ notoriety and never the other way around. Before this was over, Rose would make Jane pay for her unfortunate lapse in judgment and I actually found myself looking forward to it.

****

Jasper pulled up behind me then with Bella's belongings in his arms; a stone owl, the journal, her purse, an item of clothing, and a few other items I paid no particular attention to. I was almost to the perimeter when I caught his scent and spun around to face him.

"What are you doing here, Jasper?" I whispered. "You're supposed to be going the other way. Start marking your trail."

"I wanted to say good bye to Edward first. Where is he?"

I empathized, but the situation would not allow it. The elders were already there and if they saw him it would have defeated the purpose of our entire plan.

"It's too late, Jasper," I bit out. "I'm sorry but Edward took off toward the perimeter already. He's at the front line by now and the elders are there. They will see you, and remember, they are to believe that you are with Alice right now. Please, turn back and go."

"But I can't leave without saying goodbye. It doesn't feel right."

I was just about ready to explode from the frustrating, confrontational egos of my host members. Everybody had a goddamn, noble plight; some reason why they needed to be heard above the rest and go against the grain. It had to stop. As a host we were all over the place, crumbling from within and now the elders were infiltrating. It couldn't get any worse than it was that night.

"He is not in the best frame of mind right now, Jasper. Everything has gone awry and he is off the steep end. We agreed to a plan. Please stick to it. Any second now a fleet of guardians will be taking off after Bella's scent I am sure. Are you ready to carry the weight of failing Alice like that? She needs you _now_."

His eyes flashed between mine in crazed comprehension. Then he tightened his jaw and nodded sharply.

"May his wings carry him to true peace. I will miss him," he said, then disappeared in the opposite direction.

"God speed," I said after his retreating form. "I will tell him you said goodbye."

I flew into a scene of upheaval on the perimeter. Five Gargoyles cut through the wind at my sides the moment I arrived, and took off after the scent of the human girl. Whether or not they were instructed to do so was irrelevant. They would have done it anyway if catching and bringing her back to Aro meant earning brownie points with the elders.

Jasper had the duty of creating the decoy trail, using the scent on Bella's belongings to lead any pursuant in the wrong direction; away from Alice. It would work since her belongings were closer to us at that point than _she_ actually was; making the scent on her things fresher in the air.

Needless to say, Jasper was a sucker for a good chase. He reveled in it, and I noticed with some measure of dread before he left me, that his hands were _not _gloved. I pitied the eager fools that had just darted off on his trail, like Aro's minions on a bright eyed mission. Jasper would make sure they didn't follow Alice and if any dared cross the line with him.....well....'_sayonara.'_ Jasper was like my brother, younger than me and under my rank; but even _I _knew better than to test his limits.

****

Both Carlisle and Jake had their hands on Edward when I arrived, holding him back from doing God only knew what. Esme's eyes were locked with Jane's, silently daring her. And even though Jane was at the disadvantage, being more than an arm's length away from Esme, she didn't appear to be nervous in the least. She had an arrogant flare that made her appear fearless; and for the most part, she was.

"Carlisle," Aro spoke, bordered by Caius on one side and Marcus on the other. There were three others behind them, all in their black hooded cloaks and matching expressions. I recognized them as elders; Laurent, Victor and Heidi; the only female elder in the Legion to date.

"Seeing that Edward is intellectually incapacitated at the moment," Aro continued. "And unable to meet my questions with rational answers, as the host leader and my fellow elder, I shall defer all inquiries to you instead."

"I believe Edward has earned the right to answer for himself," Carlisle answered, keeping his hands on Edward. "It _is _his trial after all."

_Good boy, Carlisle,_ I thought. _Don't let him use your moral conscience against you. _

"Where is Rosalie?" Edward growled, trying to pull away from Carlisle and Jake.

"And where is your human?" Aro countered with a coy tilt of his chin, his hands clasped gingerly in front of him.

"Will you let me the fuck go?!" Edward screamed at Carlisle and Jake, looking at one then the other. He had lost all composure and I regretted to see the state he deteriorated to. Spending so much time with Bella compromised his supernatural quintessence and left him more emotionally volatile than....Gargoyle.

"You are out of control Edward," Carlisle grunted.

"What the fuck do you think I'm going to do?!"

"I think you're about to make this a hell of a lot worse than it needs to be. _That's _what I think," Carlisle growled right back at him. "Calm down and I will let you go. And promise that you won't take off after the guardians."

Edward closed his eyes then, bit down excruciatingly hard on his jaw, took a deep breath and went completely still. After a few seconds of terse silence and exchanged eye contact amongst the rest of us, they let him go. The moment they did, Edward opened his eyes and darted over to Aro, bringing them eye to eye.

"Edward!"

Aro never flinched. He only raised his hand alongside Edward to stop Carlisle and Jake from approaching. He could kill Edward with just a thought if he wanted to, but first he would need someone like Jane or Esme to stun Edward's repellent gift. Only they could give him the portal he needed past Edward's repellent into his mind. But so far, there was no need for that kind of defense since Edward hadn't touched him.

Still, they were face to face, dangerously close; one tense and wildly aggravated, the other, perfectly poised. Jane was still insisting on proving to Esme how unafraid she was of her by staring directly into her eyes. Carlisle and Jake were behind Edward ready to jump in and pull Edward away for his own sake. Caius and Marcus were quiet and observant at Aro's sides; and the three in the back bore a similar disposition to Carlisle and Jake's. The air was wrought with tension and clashing egos; the perfect recipe for battle.

"Let's make a pact," Edward said then. Aro threw his head back and laughed almost sinisterly.

"A pact?" He came back with a snorting giggle. Then he narrowed his eyes and leaned even further into Edward's face. "You have no time for pacts, son. In one week your sentence will be done. What in heaven's name are you thinking?"

"A trade," Edward said, ignoring Aro's dismissal. "My life, now, for Rosalie's safe return, and your promise to leave Bella alone."

Something in me triggered when I heard it. Every muscle in my body buckled and my eyes shifted manically between Edward and Aro.

Aro raised his eyebrows mockingly and smirked at Edward. "But you are already dead, Edward. Your life is no longer yours to barter. Have you not been listening? Your time is up. Of what value is your life in a pact like that when you are about to die in any case? Note also, that your scale is uneven. You're asking for two things in return for only one."

"Now!" Edward bit out, clenching his white fists at his sides. "Tonight! Forget one week away, I will give you my life tonight if you promise her safe return to the host, and Bella's safety. You have no right to hold Rose captive anyway. What is your charge? She was taken against her will. I am here now. I am giving myself to you. Do with me what you must, but my host has suffered enough because of my indiscretions. You know everything Aro, and it's why you are here. There is no reason to hold her. I surrender. Just please, let Rose go. Let them_ both _go."

Aro then brought his hands up between him and Edward and tented his fingers under his chin.

"And what makes you think I am holding Rosalie against her will?" He asked calmly, arching an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me?!" Edward scoffed. He turned his face to Jane then and though she didn't break her eye contact with Esme, she smiled coyly. "Jane kidnapped her! Don't insult us by assuming we are fools, Aro. We know you have her."

"I have nothing in my possession that does not belong to me, Edward. I am holding no one against their will."

A blood curdling, pore raising sensation covered my entire body when Aro shifted his eyes to me and held my stare for a few seconds....sending me some sort of message. Before I could blink twice, Carlisle was at my side. I looked at him, confused, instinctively berating the look in his eyes. Even Jane was looking at me now over Esme's shoulder. I moved forward a bit, closer to Edward, about to interject when my train of thought was interrupted.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Edward asked Aro, and I could hear by the change in his tone that something wasn't right.

"It means exactly and simply what it sounds like," Aro said, moving his eyes back to Edward's. My heart started an unfamiliar racket in my chest. I hated the sensation. It was unlike me. It made me feel out of control and vulnerable.

"I am the head of this Legion and that title not only deserves respect, it commands a certain level of responsibility on my part. Don't you think that if one of my steeds brought me a captive and made me an accessory to kidnapping that my position as leader would be grossly compromised?? Do not liken me to a criminal, Edward. That is inadvisable."

"So, you _don't _have her then?" I interjected, moving forward again. Carlisle's hand touched my back.

"Oh I have her alright," Aro answered, looking at me now. "But she is by no means, _kidnapped_. She is where she wants to be."

"WHAT?!" I yelled, aghast and confused by his implication. A fresh bout of anger flared inside of me and suddenly I lost all emotional intelligence; not caring who or how powerful he was anymore.

"Emmett," Carlisle said. "There is something you should know."

"What are you trying to say, Aro?!" I yelled, ignoring Carlisle's voice of reason.

Aro wriggled his eyebrows at me and when I looked at Carlisle, the dejected expression on his face gutted me. That's the moment everything started to crumble.

"Are you going to tell him?" Aro said to Carlisle. "Or shall I?"

Carlisle cast a merciless glare toward Aro then and took me by my elbow. "I'll handle it."

The blanket of numbness suddenly fell over me again; the one that sucked away my despair for Rose and left me unfeeling and confused. I blinked into Carlisle's face and shrugged.

"Handle what? I'm fine," I said. A look of skepticism crossed Carlisle's face. I turned toward Edward then and nodded. "What's going to happen now, Aro? With Edward? What are your plans?"

At the time, I didn't even realize that I was completely skipping over the Rosalie conversation. Right then, the situation with Edward seemed more pressing since Aro had just eluded to Rosalie's safety. I looked at their confused expressions and frowned. Even Edward was gaping at me in shock.

"What?!"

Aro laughed then and clapped his hands together. "So it is true!" He glided toward me and stared with mock joviality in his eyes.

"You prefer to discuss Edward now....before your mate's absence??" He asked, very interested in my answer.

"Mate...." I bit out, trying to analyze the meaning of the word and its significance to my relationship with Rosalie. I shook my head. Aro laughed again, widening his eyes like a child.

"Remarkable," he said with a smile. "You are almost....cured....it would seem..."

Then without warning, the blanket removed itself again, and my fury slammed back into focus; almost winding me in the process. It felt like a massive, electric jolt to my chest and I had to take a deep breath when the overwhelming agony hit me again.

"What the hell are you talking about??" I demanded. "Tell me where she is Aro....and what in heaven's name do you mean by _she is where she wants to be_?? Explain."

"And he's back," Aro said, glazing his eyes over my face, mesmerized. He glanced at Carlisle then, still smiling widely. "She didn't lie," he said almost laughingly. "I saw it with my own eyes. It's happening already."

"Seen what?!!" I screamed. "Who didn't lie?!! Where is ROSE!"

"Mand your tone," Aro clipped, then he flicked his chin in Carlisle's direction. "Tell him now. I came here to deal with this tonight and I cannot proceed with Edward until this is sorted."

"We'll be back," Carlisle said, tugging my arm.

"No," Aro said. "Do it here, Carlisle. Time is of the essence and besides, I'd rather see how he reacts to it myself."

My agitation started bouncing off my internal walls. I was capable of secrecy once I was in on the secret. Being in the dark like I was, was grating at my control.

"Get it over with, Carlisle," I growled. "What's going on."

"Ok," Carlisle started, with a glance at the rest of his host. "It's only a matter time untill everyone finds out, so I guess now's the time. Emmett....you know the first part already."

"Which is?"

"Something the rest of the host doesn't know....with the exception of Edward now....that Rose is a morph, like Edward. She experienced metamorphosis."

I glanced at Edward suspiciously, wondering why and how he knew that.

"So?" I shrugged. "She was human....what does that have to do with any of this?"

"What?!" Jake uttered from behind. And he was ignored for the time being.

"She has requested a change in the terms of her sentence, Emmett," Carlisle continued.

"I don't understand," I answered.

"She still had a century left to complete, after which she chose human life...." he went on.

"Yes...and?" I urged him on, still not knowing where he was going with any of it.

"_What?_??" Jake uttered again, not coping well with the revelation.

"Not now Jake," Edward said.

"Well..." Carlisle said, dropping his eyes slightly. "She wants to change the terms....to death, instead and she wants it now."

I frowned copiously, feeling the staggering in my chest build to catastrophic proportions.

"Why?? How do you know about this??"

Carlisle glanced at Edward uncomfortably before continuing.

"She came to me a few nights ago and discussed it with me, wanting my advice on how to approach Aro with it."

"No....it makes no sense," I said, shaking my head dubiously, twisting my mouth in disbelief. "She would have talked to me about this."

"Emmett," Carlisle said. "You have been deceived."

A dark shadow descended on me like a physical weight then, and all I could do was listen helplessly.

"You have been living under Rosalie's hypnosis since the inception of your relationship."

The first explosion ricocheted through me and I dropped a few inches. Edward grabbed my arm and pulled me back up. I couldn't find my voice. I only stared at Carlisle in abysmal shock, knowing he wasn't the type to lie.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Continue," I bit out. So he did.

"After witnessing the lengths Edward and Bella went to to be together...for love, something changed in her."

"No," I growled. "I want to hear the part about me being hypnotized."

"Okay. Well, I don't know the details, Emmett. She only told me that she wanted something that felt like eternity with someone, and that she didn't think her character allowed it. Her personality traits got in her way before and she didn't want it to happen again, so she did what she had to do to ensure she got what she wanted it to be. She wanted someone to fall blindly I love with her...."

_Blindly._

"....to the point where nothing could touch it...."

_Not even her infatuation with another._

"....she wanted someone to be consumed by his love for her..."

_Consumed._

"....to love no matter what, and in spite of her flaws. And she thought that the only way to get that, was to use her gift in her favor."

I stared at him silently, processing his words as the anger, shock and pain clamored inside of me; each decrepit emotion fighting for dominance.

"You don't really love Rose, Emmett," he said carefully, word by word. "You have been living under her hypnosis. And it explains why since her absence....you have been experiencing moments of emotional shut down....numbness, as it pertains to her. It's what just happened in front of Aro."

I knew exactly what he was talking about, but still....I refused to believe it. It just couldn't be true.

"After seeing Edward and Bella together, and hurting over it, Rose decided to release you, in order to give you the opportunity to find true love."

"Carlisle..." I bit out, shaking my head in denial. He came toward me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"She said you would be confused at times once she released you, that her effect would wear off in increments over time. And from the looks of it you were released last night when she was taken. It will take a while to wear off completely since you've been subjected to it so for long now, but it will wear off, Emmett. And you won't have to feel any of this again."

Without thinking I pressed my hands against his chest and shoved him away from me roughly. He flew back a few feet but darted back to me immediately after.

"Reign your anger," he warned. "I will help you through this, but you cannot treat me like the enemy. I did not know about her deception until recently."

I shifted my furious glare to Edward then, my chest constricting, folding in inside of itself. It hurt.

"You knew?" I asked.

"Carlisle told me a few nights ago," Edward answered in a hoarse tone, apologies in his eyes.

"But why?" I asked, turning back to Carlisle. "Why tell him?"

"Because," Carlisle said with an emphatic sigh. Esme appeared at his side then and took his hand in support. "Rose wants to trade her human life at the end of her sentence for Edward....so that he may live."

I snapped.

"_NO_!!"

I turned on Edward then, overwhelmed by the blinding, suffocating constriction in my body. "You don't deserve her love. I know how she felt about you all these years...and though it never affected me like I thought it should...I knew enough to know that you didn't deserve it. You are self absorbed...and you never treated her right."

"I only gave to her what she gave to me, Emmett," Edward countered. "Her coldness was matched."

"She was only cold because you didn't return her affections."

"And how could I?!" He flared. "She was yours! _You_ loved her! And I didn't!"

My thoughts jumbled. Nothing made sense; not Carlisle's revelation, not the words that were coming out of my mouth..nothing.

"She's doing this because she loves you," I bit out at Edward. "How can you let her sacrifice herself for you? How can you allow it?"

"Listen," Edward said, pointing a finger in my face. I smacked it away but he didn't relent. "I am just as against this as you are. When Carlisle told me, I rejected the notion immediately. I even asked him to talk her out of it...that it was madness...that she continue with the hypnosis and never let you know."

"Because you pitied me," I spat at him.

"Because I _owe_ you," he said. "And because I love you. You created me, Emmett....and had all these grand hopes for me...none of which I fulfilled. I was a flawed gargoyle from night one; never completely detached from my humanity to live up to your expectations. I failed you. And I hated to think that you would have to go through this because of me. And because no matter how deeply I love Bella, it wouldn't be right to take your love from you so that I can have mine. It's not fair."

"But according to Carlisle," I said with excruciating difficulty. "It's not love at all....."

"It is if _you_ believe it is," Edward said through clenched teeth. I knew he was trying really hard to be supportive because he felt guilty, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

Something occurred to me then. I raised my eyes to Aro and frowned. "Her kidnap...was that staged?You said she is where she wants to be."

"First of all," Aro said, raising his pointer finger and widening his eyes. "I would rather not use the word _kidnap_. She was taken against her will yes...which I had no knowledge of until she was before me. But that is a different issue. Once she was before me, she relented and explained everything you just heard. She told me the entire story of Edward and his Bella....and went on to request my pardon, not only for herself, but for Edward as well. She stayed willingly afterward, but only because she awaits my answer."

"Your answer to _what_ exactly?" I growled.

"Will I allow the swap....her death, so that he may live. She is offering her human life to him."

"What????" Jake belted again.

"You can't allow it," I said, gulping against the massive wave of turmoil in my throat. "You can't....it's not how this works."

"I have the authority to allow amendments to the rule as I see fit....as long as the outcome is in keeping with our core values of love and life."

Aro turned to Edward then. "I am not a murderer, son. I am a guardian, like you; a leader with a world of responsibility in my hands. And what kind of leader would I be if I didn't place importance in something as intrinsic as love? And from what Rose has explained...yours is the purest she has ever seen. That is not to say however, that there aren't complications as far as your human is concerned. There is still the matter of her "knowledge" to address. That is dangerous."

"Stop this!" I screamed. "Aro! What are you talking about?! Edward _made_ his choice two hundred years ago! He chose his death...and Rose chose _life._..that is all there is to it! Edward dies and she lives out her remaining century...then returns to her human form. That was the pact. There are no two ways about this! I expect you to live up to your guardianship and do what you have preached for centuries! It is your duty."

"Do not assume a demanding position with me, Emmett. Never forget who you are talking to. But for the sake of argument, let us consider what you want. You object to Rosalie's decision. Then what?" Aro asked, folding him arms and tilting his head slightly. "Hmmm? Then what? Let's say you allow her to continue hypnotizing you for another century....which by the way, is an abuse of her gift. Then let's say she is replaced in the human race at the end of her sentence.

"Then what, Emmett? You still cannot be with her, because you will be a Gargoyle. If your "relationship" is what you are fighting for in this situation, you are deluded. As of five minutes ago, since learning the truth, your partnership with Rosalie is null and void. It never really existed. In fact, since her decision is to part ways with you, right now, it is also one sided.

"She has already released you from her hold and agreed not to do it again despite the outcome of this trial. You _will_ snap out of it Emmett, and when you do, there will be nothing left but resentment for your Rose. Unfortunately that is the downside to her gift. Once you are released from the deception of your love, the opposite will come to take its place in your heart."

"You're a liar," I spat, casting judgment on them all for the lacerating pain that was cutting through me. "This is a sick joke. What have I done to deserve this?"

"Yet another road I wish to avoid tonight," was his flippant answer. "But I will suggest however, that you resist calling me a liar from here on out. Hmmm?"

Right then her scent hit me, like a slapping mirage in the desert of despair. I heard her before I saw her, and the sound of her voice did the most unexpected thing. It shoved me into the numb plane where I felt nothing but confusion and emptiness. All anger and hurt dissipated, leaving me in blank space to stare at the face that seemed the most and least familiar at the same time. I simply did not know what to do.

"It's the truth, Emmett," she said.

"Oh shit...." Jake blurted out from somewhere on the periphery of my consciousness.

Rosalie wafted into full view then, her blond waves resting daintily on her shoulders. There was something blatantly different about her. She looked different, she sounded different, and even though I recognized her scent...even that was different. Or maybe she was exactly the same and it was _me_ that was different. There was no way to know for sure.

"I am genuinely sorry," she said next. "I wish I could have been the one to tell you, but...." And she glanced at Jane. "It didn't happen that way. My hope in all this is that one day you will learn to forgive me just as you will learn to get over me."

I only stared, noticing that my numb spells were getting longer and longer in length. I was actually there right before her, and I couldn't muster up a single shred of pain, nostalgia, or adoration for the gift of her face again. She continued to talk.

"I wouldn't be able to bear another hundred years witnessing your growing indifference to me, or your resentment. Believe it or not, it _will_ hurt. I am not good with loss. My ego has never been able to withstand it. And yes, even I can admit to my own vanity.

"In any event, I am tired of it all. I am exhausted, and now that...." Her eyes drifted to Edward then. I followed her stare and saw Edward turn his face away. "....now that Edward will be gone from the Host, and you, removed from under my spell....there is nothing holding me here anymore. I want peace. I need it. I need to be free of it all and only death will give that to me in its entirety. Even though my human life should be separated from this life, I am not prepared to deal with the challenges it will bring. I am almost certain that this exhaustion will follow me over the threshold."

"I cannot accept this from you, Rosalie," Edward said quietly. "I have no right to your life, not after everything that has happened. And especially since you are doing this for all the wrong reasons. I don't know what to do with this grand show of love from you....the love that you should have had for Emmett all along. It's suicide. You could have kept this to yourself and continued on after my passing. Emmett would have been happy."

"Emmett would have experienced this in any event," she answered flatly. "When my sentence ends my effect shall leave him too, and he would have gone through exactly what he is right now. It is inevitable. My gifts cannot live on without me."

"Somehow this seems selfish of you," Edward said, shaking his head. "It might be noble but I can't help but feel, in my gut, that...."

"Perhaps you are right," she answered. "This is about me, yes. But I too have a lot to pay for . I have also violated the Legion's rules. What I did to Emmett and for how long....is unforgivable. Even I know that and regardless of what you may think of me, Edward, it was very difficult for me to keep something like this a secret. I have hated myself for it every night, and I can't do it anymore. I'm done."

Then suddenly the blanket was lifted from my eyes and I fell back into myself; into the weaning hypnotic state that I was still a victim to. It came with the twisting pain of betrayal, gutting me from the inside out. But the pain translated to flush anger almost immediately and the strength I found in that, though minimal, carried me.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked her. She turned her eyes to me. "You think you can turn my world upside down and just...walk away? When do I get to have some say in this?"

"What would you say, Emmett?" She asked. "That you hate me? That I am despicable and deceitful?Then I'd deserve it, but don't expect that I should want to stick around to hear it. You are free now and though it will take a while for the effects to leave you completely, you _will_ return to normal, and your heart will be free of hurt and confusion. You will be fine."

"But I know what I feel _right now_," I argued, hearing the trembling in my voice and hating it. "Pain like this doesn't happen unless there is love. You are looking me in my eyes and telling me that I don't really love you, when every fiber in my being is telling me that I do."

"Emmett..."

"Do you have any idea how excruciating this is?"

"I do."

"No, you don't. You couldn't, or else you wouldn't do it to me. Unless you really are as cold and heartless as you come off."

"Perhaps I am."

"Did you love me at all, Rosalie? At any point over the years....did you love me?"

Her face hardened and the sliver in her eyes darkened to pure black. The bones in her face froze over and her entire body stilled.

"I love you enough to let you go now," she said in a brittle tone. "To want you to find real love, like you deserve."

"So the answer is no," I choked out, taking a staggering breath.

"That's not what I said." She tried to placate me.

"It's not enough," I cut her off. "I'm done...with all of this. Say what you will, but this welt in my heart will never heal. The cut is too deep. But you know what? Maybe you're right and whether or not you live or die after this....from now on, you are dead to me."

I turned to Edward then and for the first time in all those years, a merciless stab of jealousy sliced through me. Two centuries of jealousy that never surfaced; either because I was hypnotized not to feel it, or because the love was never there to begin with, came crashing through me. I was a big gargoyle. My anger was big. My loyalty was big. My body was big. My strength was big. My heart was big and my passion was big. True to form, the jealousy and hurt from my broken heart was just as big.....if not bigger; and I was again...consumed.

"Carlisle, Aro," I said, turning to give a quick nod to the other elders. "If you may excuse me?"

"Certainly, Emmett," Carlisle spoke up.

"So you don't want to know what happens next?" Aro asked me.

"No," I said, turning my back on them all. "I am done. I'm sure they will fill me in later."

I tried to leave then, but Edward followed me.

"Please don't let this be our good bye," he said, catching up to me easily.

"I need to be alone, Edward."

"Emmett, please," he pleaded. "I didn't want any of this. You have to know that. I was just as angry to learn about it as you are. It hurt me too, Emmett. I hurt for you."

I didn't stop. I accelerated in flight, but he couldn't be out flown.

"Emmett, I will not accept it. Out of sheer principle I can't. Please know that. I won't do this to you. I am on your side."

I stopped then and swiveled myself around to face him. "She loves you enough to give her life for you. But she couldn't love me enough to want to live for me."

He dropped his eyes and shook his head dejectedly.

"I'm sorry."

"Why? You have done nothing wrong. You have never led her on in anyway and you certainly can't help the way she feels. Forget about me. Go back, and choose wisely Edward. As distorted as my feelings are for both you and Rosalie right now, and as much as my raging animosity makes me want to tear you to shreds.....you are still my brother."

He raised his head then and the sparkle of hope in his eyes actually touched me. "You think you have failed me, but you haven't. I knew your flaws better than _you_ even knew and I accepted that they were a part of you. I tried to nurture your gifts and bring you past your disillusionment, and if you were unable to achieve that Edward....it was _I_ that failed you and not the other way around. You were my charge, and I saw you suffer and struggle with your immortality but I also left you to find your way on your own; expecting something divine to kick in and take over. I was wrong. I stuck to the bare minimum in grooming you and it was hardly enough. This fiasco is all actually my fault and not yours. I should have been more attentive."

"We can both share the blame."

"Whatever happens from here, I have to separate myself from it and I hope you can understand. I love you and I always will, but right now....I can't get past this; not tonight anyway."

He nodded at me and reached out to touch my shoulder.

"I love you too, Em," he said. "And I am proud to have been yours. May everything you touch be blessed. Good bye."

He turned away from me then and flew back to the perimeter. And just when I thought my heart couldn't possibly sink any further, it did.

~*~

**Alice**

She wouldn't talk at first. She wouldn't eat. She wouldn't move. All she did was sleep, and for that at least, I was glad. I tried talking as I flew her toward the coastline, but she was as stiff as a corpse in my arms; suffering from shock, and unresponsive. For the first time in all my centuries, I didn't know what to do.

Her silence worried me. It was the first sign of the shell I knew she would regress into, and it was why I was in favor of the hypnosis in the first place. But with Rosalie gone, there was nothing we could to do help her in that regard. We could find other Gargoyles with the same gift perhaps, but that would take time.

The first few minutes in flight were chaotic. I pushed myself harder than I ever had need to, keeping my ears on the scene I left behind. The Elders wasted no time like we figured, but we really didn't expect them to show up so soon into the night. They were fast on the draw, too fast perhaps. And I realized with some trepidation that it was because they were closer than we thought all along. The night Jane took Rosalie, she thwarted Esme, Jasper and Emmett through the sky relentlessly. She led them on a wild goose chase until it neared dawn and they had no choice but to return to the castle. It was a game to her. She tricked them, making them think she flew all the way back to the Elders when in fact they were in the vicinity all along.

The manipulation angered me. I wanted to know where they hid and if they were spying, how long they were there, and if Jane's visit was even a "chance visit" at all. But I kept my thoughts to myself because I had to focus on a very shaken Bella at the moment, huddled quietly in my arms with her head turned in. I also had to focus on getting us to a safe place of rest quickly. There was no way I would have been able to cover France and the entire Atlantic Ocean in one night. Only Edward could do that. At best, I could make it halfway across the Atlantic, but then dawn would catch us and I would transform in the sky. I would sink to the bottom of the ocean and Bella would either drown or be eaten by sharks. My best bet was to travel upward through the UK and into Ireland, since the distance between Ireland and Canada was shorter than the distance from the French coastline to the US. I would rest in Ireland for one day, then take off for the Canadian border at Twilight. From there, it was fair game, and Bella would be closer to home than she had been in weeks.

I relied heavily on Jasper's diversion. He stayed behind with Bella's things, mapping out a false trail for any gargoyle that decided to follow us. It was perhaps a long shot, but in my eyes nothing was impossible when diligence and careful thought were involved. Jasper had both qualities.

As I flew, a part of me clung to the anxiety of our escape since it took my mind away from the fact that I had just said goodbye to Edward. Through all our years together, I was the female version of what Jacob was to him.

Edward had a quiet, damaged quality about him that made you want to hold and protect him. And despite all his flaws and insistent rejections to the laws of our world, I adored him. In fact, it was the very thing that drew me close. He not only needed constant guidance and reassurance, he needed an avenue to vent. That's what I gave him; a non judgmental shoulder to lean on. And I would miss him like a hundred nights missed the sun.

****

A few hours before dawn, having reached the western Irish coastline, I had no choice but to stop. I rested her on the rooftop of a farmhouse in the Cleggan Region, a fishing neighborhood that was as quaint, old world, and homely as the early nineteenth century.

"I know this is going to sound stupid," I said, as I stood next to her sitting frame on the flat rooftop. "But I'll ask it anyway. How are you, Bella?"

She hugged her knees to her chest, shrugged, and turned her face away. She looked pale and her eyes managed to be both sunken in and swollen at the same time from too much crying.

"You're angry with me for taking you away from him," I said, kneeling at her side. She swallowed and winced through the discomfort, then shook her head to tell me no.

"You _will_ get through this, Bella," I said, standing again. "One of the strongest human traits is adaptability, and I've seen what you are capable of."

She arched her eyebrow at me as if to say "_Not now, Alice_," so I dropped it. It was perhaps too early still to start giving her that "You're a fighter" pep talk.

"Will you be okay up here for a few minutes?" I asked. "I just want to find you food and blankets."

She shrugged again and put her chin on her knees, pulling her legs closer to her chest. My heart broke for her more than once, but Bella knew that this was going to happen from early on. And still, she fell head first into a whirlwind affair with Edward. It almost made me marvel at the lengths she went to for the sake of temporary pleasure...in the name of hope. And as destructive as it was, I had to admit it was also beautiful.

I sent Jasper a text message then to find out how far away he was. Calling wasn't a good idea because any Gargoyle near enough to him would be able to hear our phone conversation. As it turned out, he really did need to mislead a few of them off course. According to his text reply, he counted five of them and as far as he could tell they weren't elders. They were minions like Jane and Alec, eagerly searching out dirt to carry back to the elders; rock kissers.

The Cullen Heist was suddenly prime game and every traitorous Gargoyle's opportunity for the spot light. Jasper was having a tough time leading them through a maze of circles somewhere on the outskirts of Spain, but he enjoyed every minute of it. He was a fan of mischief so it was easy for him to turn it into a game.

Not to mention, he absolutely adored being chased. And there was no denying that the deadly quality of his touch birthed his unparalleled confidence. I could just see the taunting smirk on his face as he thwarted in and around them, out of sight, waving Bella's scent as bait. The vision made me twitch in all sorts of inappropriate places.

"Ahem," I blinked out of my brief reverie and inhaled. "So, I'll be back shortly. Please stay. You are safe for the night."

She shot me a dangerously sarcastic look as if to say_ "And where would I go, Alice?"_

I twisted my mouth in response to her disparaging look and prepared to jump off the side. But I stopped short when a thought hit me and made me turn back toward her.

"On second thought," I said, darting over to take her by the hand. "You're coming with me, Missy. No one's jumping off this building on my watch. And you're way too depressed."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, but cooperated anyway.

I broke into a boat house a few feet away from our perch and located three blankets in a linen cupboard. Satisfied with my find I headed to the kitchenette, but only found a dry bagel and an unopened bottle of water in the small fridge. She shuffled quietly behind me and every now again I heard her suck in a labored breath of air. Most disturbing of all was the pounding of her heart. It hadn't slowed down since parting with Edward. I glanced at her often, but she kept breaking our eye contact as if she was ashamed to let me see her face. I gestured to the lack of food.

"It'll do," was the first thing she said. "I'm not hungry anyway."

Once up on the roof again, I made sure to tuck her in. I folded one blanket under head for a pillow and wrapped her snugly in the other two. Still, her heart raced out of control, a mere palpitation away from a heart attack. It disturbed me greatly.

"Please get some rest today," I said to her as I stroked the hair out of her face and kissed her cheek. "You'll need it for the trip ahead."

****

She slept all day long at my feet, waking only once to survey her surroundings. On remembering where she was and everything that had happened, she buckled over and cried herself back to sleep. Her sleep wasn't deep. She twitched and tossed and groaned at times, but at least the rhythm in her chest sounded more like a heart beat rather than a train careening out of control.

I had to wake her up at Twilight. When I touched her, she jumped with a start and on seeing my face over hers, she offered me a faint smile. Jasper averaged the time difference perfectly and sent me a text within five minutes. He was a few hours into the night already.

_''They caught on - Know it's a trick and are headed toward the Atlantic. Leave now. They are fast. Please be careful.'_

"Bella?" I said, lifting her toward me with the blankets still wrapped around her. "We have to go now sweetie."

"But I have to pee," she said in a scratchy voice.

"You always have to pee, Bella," I said. "What is it with you and peeing?"

She pointed to herself with an unamused expression on her face and raised an eyebrow.

"Human," she said dryly. I pointed to the edge on the opposite side of the roof and told her to hurry up; and when she started I tried _really_ hard not to listen.

Crossing the Atlantic from the east to the west was tricky. I was essentially flying back in time and toward the still setting sun in the Western half of the world. That of course meant that I had to control my speed so that I didn't run into the orange sky up ahead. There was also the threat of what was coming after me. Jasper said they were fast and even though they had the same challenge as I did in traveling westward, they had more night hours ahead of them than I did since they were still a fair distance behind me. It meant they could move faster than I could. The gap between us was closing in.

I tried to blot it out. I needed every ounce of my focus for the trip, averaging the time and counting the minutes as I moved. Then there was the issue of Bella's silence to deal with.

"So you're not going to talk to me at all," I said, when we were halfway across the Atlantic.

"What do you want me to say, Alice?" Was her dreary reply.

"I don't know, but flying with you like this in absolute silence is starting to bug me."

"I'm sorry. Just give me a while, okay?"

"Fine. Do you want to look out?"

"Huh?"

"I can reposition you so that you see out. I mean there's nothing to see. The ocean is about the same color as the sky right now, but at least you'll get some wind on your face. "

"No thanks," she said. "Just take me home Alice."

The fact that she used the word 'home' relieved me and I found myself holding her closer so that I could kiss the top of her head.

"As long as I'm allowed, Bella, I will stay close to you. I won't leave you alone."

****

We crossed the coastline into Nova Scotia without a hitch. The sun would rise over the Atlantic before it would in Canada and I hoped that meant that my 'friends' played it safe and remained on the other side of the world like I had to do the night before. On crossing the border onto land I sent Jasper a message.

_''Touch down. Please tell me we're safe.'_

He replied immediately.

_'You're safe. They're headed back the way they came right this minute – racing against dawn.'_

_'Heading back? Jasper? What did you do?'_

_'Let's just say they have some weight to carry back.'_

_'Jasper!'_

_'It was well deserved. They cornered me and tried to snatch Bella's stuff from me in anger.'_

_'What happened?'_

_' I let them. It freed my hands.'_

_'How many, J?'_

_'Just one. I promise.'_

_'What happened to the stuff?'_

_'I managed to save it. I'm bringing it home. See you tomorrow.'_

With a few hours left until dawn, I made a hasty bee line for the US and managed to make it to Bella's doorstep in the nick of time. I deposited her on the doorstep and squeezed her hand gently.

"Home safe," I said with a smile. Then I pointed to the roof. "I won't be far away. Keep me safe?"

"Only if you promise not to disappear on me," she answered.

"I promise," I said, then made a hasty retreat to her rooftop. The air up there was familiar and I decided with a nostalgic tug of my heart that I liked the air in Seattle better than in Europe.

The dog started barking like a raging lunatic, his excitement piercing mercilessly through the early morning. I heard Bella knocking on the door, then I heard the aggravated, shuffling footsteps of a sleepy person on the inside. The girl shouted at Blade to hush, then opened the front door to what must have been the shock of her life.

I almost lost focus between the rising sun, Bella's yelp of surprise at a pouncing Blade, and the thud of Angela's fainting body hitting the floor.

"Oh my God! Angela??!!" Bella exclaimed.

But at least she was home safe like I promised Edward, and so I was able to transform under the sun with a smile on my face.

* * *

**A/N: **Soooo....WTF??? lol. LIke before....I would die if I didn't hear what you thought after being so anxious about it. Please don't let me die!

Special recs : Beyond Time by TKegl. She's nailing this tale. It's really very sweet and she deserves your support. Check in my favs.

Through His Eyes by its-rpattz-baby - Another sweet story written by a very sweet person. Also in my favs!

Master of Disaster by Tropical Sorbet. I hope I'm getting their names correct! But they're all in my favs for you to find.


	20. Chapter 19 Twister

**A/N: **This is the last chapter of SIS! *pout* However, there will be an epilogue.

I know you thought it ended quickly but all good things must come to an end! A gazillion thank you's to everyone who read, reviewed and stayed with this story until the end. It was a hell of an emotional ride and I am also sad it's over. I WILL MISS STONEWARD. But you can find him on Twitter if you are interested (Stoneward_ ) He talks..lol.

I have to thank Nikkiwindland for being an amazing friend and source of inspiration. Teambella23 for being with me ever since Conflicted, and for encouraging me whenever I lost faith. And to everyone who either held my hand or pushed me forward.

Set in Stone is up for a Silent Tear Award. The category is Best Supernatural. Here's the link : Thanks for voting.

http:/silent-tear-awards(dot)webs(dot)com/vote(dot)htm

**Chapter 19**

**Twister**

**BPOV**

I took the steps up to the roof of my apartment two at a time, anxious to see Alice again. The night was cold. Even with a sweater, a coat and my arms wrapped tightly around my body, I felt the biting teeth of the air scrape at my skin. The first thing I spotted when I got to the top was the long curtain of blond ringlets hanging down a slender, proud back. I squinted at the image before looking down the stairs and then back again in confusion. That couldn't be right. That was not what I expected to see. With a silent intake of air, I glanced around for Alice, still frowning. She was supposed to be there. She had promised.

The head of blond hair moved to the side then and my heart caught in anxiety, worrying that I was suddenly alone with her...with no Alice in sight.

"Rosalie?" I asked, knowing but hoping I was wrong.

She turned to face me with one fluid but brief motion and raised her chin proudly. I tightened my arms harder, glancing outward for Alice again.

Where the hell was she?

At first, Rose didn't say anything. She only stared, her face hard and perfectly plastered in the yellow glow of the moon. The moon never shone that brightly before, at least not in the dead of winter, but it suited the aura of peculiarity.

"Where is Alice?" I asked.

"Busy," she answered; her lips being the only part of her body that moved partially. "I knew you would come looking for her."

I swallowed nervously, the hair on my body raising in slow fear. Something wasn't right. Not that Rosalie was ever friendly to me, but the dead focus in her eyes crept through to the deepest part of my centre. I knew I should look away, turn back and run down every last step with my eyes closed, but already her stare had me locked in place and I couldn't move.

"So you got away from them," I said; my best attempt at conversation. The last time I saw her she was being kidnapped by Jane. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Come closer," she said, ignoring my conversation. And without even wanting to, my right foot stepped out in front of my left.

"Why?" I asked, my breathing turning shallow and taut. Regardless, my legs moved according to her will and took me straight to her. The movement went against every instinct in my body but I couldn't even_ try _to direct my brain otherwise. Her stare was penetrating and mesmerising, overpowering me without the slightest effort.

"There," she said, when I was within a few inches of her. "That's better."

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Where are the others? Did they all come back? What about...Edward?"

"There is no one but me."

"I don't understand. Did Alice ask you to stay with me tonight? Did she have something else to do? She is supposed to be here..."

"We have to finish what we started, Bella," she cut me off.

Another jolt of shock shot through my chest then and a nasty, coldness starting eating me away from the inside out.

"What are you talking about?" Though I knew exactly what.

"Too many questions for too little time. I have to do this now before they get here. It won't hurt a bit, like I promised," she said. "It will all be over in just a few seconds."

My eyes widened then and I stared up at her in alarm, unable to move or to even think of moving for that matter. I was locked and helpless at her mercy...no mercy. Rosalie was there. How and why, I didn't know. But she came for me like I always knew she would and there was absolutely nothing I could do, no one to help and no one to speak for me. Even the pitch of my voice was controlled by her. My calm, level tone was in no way an honest depiction of the kind of screaming terror I had bouncing around in my body.

"Please don't...I came home quietly like I said I would."

"I will give you something I don't usually give, to make it easier on you."

"What's that exactly?"

"A choice."

"Thank you. I choose no. I don't want it...please. I know I said yes before but I've changed my mind. I can't go through with it, Rosalie. This is my memory we're talking about."

"That's not what I meant. I meant...the choice of what you want to believe afterward. Tell me and I will make it happen."

A single tear escaped her hold over me and crept down my cheek when I realized, beyond a reasonable doubt, that it was too late. Whether this was because of Edward, The Legion, or her own will to get back at me for everything I had done...she won.

Panic rose from my stomach all the way up to my throat, tasting like bile in the back of my mouth. I swallowed against it but the taste didn't relent and another defeating tear fell from my second eye.

"You are really going to hypnotize me," I said.

She nodded.

"First …tell me about Edward. Have you seen him? What has happened?"

"Edward is dead," she answered quickly. And I swore I saw something like hatred flash between her eyes.

I couldn't clutch my stomach and wretch like I wanted to when she said the words. I knew it was going to happen...but already? I was sure he still had days left. It had only been two nights since I left him, counting the one in Ireland.

"Dead."

"If you don't choose now, I will choose for you, Bella. There is no time left. They are closing in on us."

"Then either way I won't care will I?" I said to her, trying to hold my courage in tact. "Because I won't remember this night. And by the way they are always close by _apparently_. I'm so fucking sick and tired of running and hiding from them. I wish they would show themselves already and spare me the _fucking_ dramatics."

"Good bye, Isabella," she said, a smile creeping up the sides of her face. Her eyes widened then, making her dark pupils dilate in the moonlight, showing me the last glimmer of gray I would ever recognize. Her irises seemed to move in swirls, sucking my attention in. Then...

"NO!" I screamed. "_NOOOOOO!"_

Suddenly Blade was slopping at my face with his heavy tongue and pawing his way into my lap.

"Blade?" I said, grabbing for the Selenite around my neck.

I glanced about my dark bedroom frantically, my heart racing like a tight death trap. I pushed Blade away and stumbled out of bed, raking my hair away from my face with shaky fingers.

"What the fuck just happened?" Angela came racing in, hitting the light switch on the wall.

I almost died of relief when I saw her face. I covered the few feet between us and threw my arms around her neck. Her arms came around me reluctantly, but still...they were there.

"You're shaking, Bella," she said. "Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"That's what it was," I gasped, tightening my arms around her shoulders in sweet relief. "Just a nightmare. Haha!"

Very gently, she pulled her arms back and held me away from her, looking at me searchingly before dropping her hands to her sides.

"Maybe you should see a doctor," she said.

"Why would I need a doctor? I'm not sick," I answered, turning back to get my coat and sneakers from the cupboard.

"You look terrible, Bella. You're thin as a whip, your eyes are sunken in, you slept all day, haven't eaten anything...and you just don't look well."

"I'm well."

"You are different."

I raised my eyes to her then and bit my lips into my mouth, not knowing how to answer her. Earlier that morning after she woke up from her brief fainting spell, she antagonized me with questions. She was angry at first, flustered and enraged at my sudden appearance after being away so long without a word. She yelled at me...even cried and when I tried to touch her she slapped my hands away.

My empty story about running away for a vacation with Edward didn't fly either. I told her that it didn't work out and that we left each other, but she knew I was hiding something. She knew I was lying, because she knew me. And when she saw the affirmation in my eyes, that I couldn't and wouldn't tell her the whole truth, she walked away from me exasperatedly.

She was right to be angry. She was my best friend and I had hurt her, but it was for her safety. If Angela knew the truth, they would come after her too. As it was I still wasn't even sure about what my judgement would be; so how could I maker her an accessory? I was still a human that knew the truth about Gargoyles; clinging to knowledge that was not mine to have. They could very well come after me still, search me out and find a way for me to repay my debt. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit to the part of me that wanted it.

I wished I could tell her. It would have been so much easier for me if I could talk to her about it. She was the perfect person to vent with, lay my head on and cry with. But I couldn't. And already I was lonelier than I ever was before; bitter and hardened, and too numb to cry even though my eyes craved it.

"What time is it?" I asked, rushing past her into the corridor. The fear that Alice might not be there nagged me.

"Seven o'clock," Angela answered, following me out.

"What day is it?" I asked next as I hurried toward the kitchen door. I didn't mind her following. Alice wouldn't let Angela see her, if she was even there to begin with.

"Bella, where are you going?" She asked.

"Out for air," I said, pushing the door open. Blade was right beside me, yelping and galloping toward the stairs already. His giddiness excited me and pushed me forward faster. Whenever he acted like that it meant a Gargoyle was near. I only hoped it was the right one...

Angela didn't follow us out. I heard the kitchen door close behind us but I kept my eyes forward, grabbing at the railing with my hand as I took the stairs two at a time. Breathing mist out of my mouth I followed Blade as we made it to the top, my eyes scanning everywhere in sight for any sign of Alice.

"Alice?" I called out.

Then I saw her. She was standing on the edge, looking down with her back to me. Her short hair moved slightly with the small wind and and her coat fell down to her calves, covering her back in a sheath of opaque black. The moment Blade ran into her she put her hand out and touched the top of his head, making him whimper in contentment. It always amazed me how they calmed him with just a touch and commanded his obedience.

I was next of course. I threw myself against her just as she turned around to face me. The impact with her hard exterior winded me slightly but I held on tight, shaking again, only this time in relief.

"I'm here," she said, wrapping one arm around my shoulders. "You panic so much."

"Can you blame me?" I asked, snagging a deep breath against her. She let me hug her for as long as I wanted and only when I was done did she let me go.

"You had a bad dream," she said, taking a seat on the ground. I sat opposite her, crossing my legs Indian style and observing as my dog chose her lap to curl up in instead of mine.

"You heard me scream," I said with a nod. "I dreamt that I came up here to find you tonight, but you weren't here. Rosalie was here instead and she was about to hypnotize me."

She raised her eyes for a few seconds before dropping them again to Blade's form in her lap.

"When I look at you," she said. "I still wish we had done it when we had the chance and gotten it over with."

"The hypnosis you mean," I deduced.

"Yes. I would have brought you here and you would have gone on with your life happily...blissful in your ignorance."

"I am happy," I answered her quickly. "As long as you're here, I'll be happy."

I know it sounded needy but there was nothing I could do about that because it was the truth. I was needy now and she was the only one that could partially fill the void inside of me. She shook her head then and gave me a look of apprehension.

"You are far from happy, Bella, and we can't always be like this. I hope you know that. I can be here like this now because we only just got back and everything is still so unsure and dangerous...but the time will come when I will have to move on."

"Move on...but...you said you would always..."

"Yes, I'll always be here for you in some way or other. But that doesn't mean I will be sitting on your rooftop every night waiting for you to run out here and find me. I have the city to look after too. That is what I do."

"So you can look after the city then come back...what's wrong with..."

"I get it," she said softly, resting her tranquil gaze on me. "I get your separation anxiety and your need to cling to me because I am your link to him. But I am not him, Bella, and if you are to move on and get over this like I want you to, you will have to learn to put distance between us too...eventually. I can't be discovered here talking with you like this. It would aggravate an already fragile situation."

"Fine. Eventually," I came back, liking that the word indicated later rather than sooner. I also didn't want to piss her off. "Can we change the subject?"

She bent her head down to Blade then and continued to stroke him. "You need to eat something."

"Me or him?"

"You."

I rolled my eyes. "Quit mothering me. I'll eat when I'm hungry."

She smiled a small smile and looked out toward the street. "Jasper will be here by tomorrow night. He is on his way back right now."

"And the others?" I asked, feeling the load in my chest get heavier and heavier.

"They will come only after things with Edward are final."

_Final..._

I turned my face toward the street too and swallowed the encroaching lump, hoping for the numbness to stick to me longer. It was the only thing that helped me to cope.

"And when will that be?" I asked slowly.

"I don't know. I will only know when they come back. I haven't heard anything. Jasper may know something more though."

"When is Edward supposed to...exactly..." My voice trailed off.

"December 14th," she answered. "That was the date he was turned, but don't take it for granted that Aro will wait for the exact date. You have to know that it could have happened already."

I ignored that comment and tried to estimate how much time he had left, given the fact that I didn't know the day or date. But Alice was quick on the draw.

"That's five days away, Bella."

I nodded silently and swallowed again. "He's still out there."

"Don't torture yourself."

"I'm not."

Her head shot up then and with a small pat on Blade's back, he jumped out of her lap.

"Angela is coming," she said, darting up and toward the edge. "Go inside. I will visit soon."

"But wait," I said, jumping to my feet with my arms out. "Are you coming back tonight?"

And in the blink of an eye she was gone. It happened so fast I didn't know where to look; up, down or straight ahead.

"Alice?"

"Who's Alice," Angela asked. I closed my eyes and tried to force my frustration into submission, not wanting to be upset with Angela for innocently sending Alice away. When I turned to face her I regretted my selfishness immediately on seeing the plate in her hand. She walked toward me, wrapped in a blanket with her glasses balanced on the bridge of her nose in typical, sweet Angela style.

"No one," I answered, trying hard to smile at the fact that she brought me something to eat. " I was talking to myself again."

She didn't probe any further, only held the plate out to me. I took it guiltily and managed a smile, knowing that I deserved her less and less every minute.

"You slept all day then rushed out here without eating," she said to me. "It's tuna."

"Thank you, Angel."

"Ok, well," she said, turning to the side. "I have finals to prepare for, so, I'll be inside."

With one last glance up at the sky I nodded. "I'm coming with you."

The next few days were terribly overwhelming. Readjusting myself to reality was just as draining as I expected it would be. People focused on me way too much, understandably, and made everything into a big deal.

I slept most of the day everyday and Alice only allowed me an hour of clinging at night before Jasper came to get her. As it turned out, Jasper didn't have any news for us. He knew just as much as Alice did and had to settle for waiting for the host's return to get answers as well. The both of them returned to the old bell tower and forbid me to come visiting during the day.

The night Jasper came back he gave me Edward's journal and the rest of my stuff. I had stood there, staring at the items in his arms for a long while before attempting to take any of it from him. Then once I had the journal in my arms and felt the nostalgic force that threatened to break me to pieces, I had to put it away and out of sight. I wasn't ready to dive head first into a well of depression. With all my strength I clung to the numbness that kept me together, hoping it would taking me to forever.

During the few hours I managed to stay awake at day, I started crossing things off my list. My lecturers in school were appalled. I had missed weeks of classes, missed my project deadlines including the first draft of my thesis; and finals were only a few days away. But at least, I hadn't been kicked out of school. I wouldn't be able to sit my finals having missed the bulk of material I did, but they agreed to allow me to take my courses again. So essentially, I had an additional semester to complete in order to graduate.

"Fuck my life," I muttered under my breath as I left the Dean's office.

Next, I had to deal with the cops. On seeing that I was _not _in fact murdered or kidnapped they released my car to me again after I paid a hefty sum of money. That of course, was not before answering a shit load of repetitive questions about my secret rendezvous which ended sourly.

"You young girls just keep getting stupider and stupider," Officer Banner commented. "The next time you leave your car abandoned like that on a public street you're gonna have to answer to a judge."

"Yes sir."

I didn't even get the opportunity to make it to Barca. On day four I was sleeping in my bed only to be slapped out of my dreamless state by a very aggravated Jessica Stanley.

"Ouch! What the hell are you doing?"

"Don't fuckin' _ouch_ me," she blurted, standing over me with her hands on her hips. "It's four o'clock in the fuckin' afternoon. Wake the fuck up."

I pushed myself into a sitting position and blew the hair our of my eyes.

"Go on, get it out of your system," I said blandly.

And _boy_ did she let me have it.

"You're a fucking bitch, you know that!" She yelled. "You couldn't tell me that you were running off with some fucking guy? What'd you think? I would follow you and steal him away from your pasty ass? Not to mention leaving me hanging high and dry at the bar. For a whole fuckin' week I had to work double shifts and let me tell you somethin' sister, the double pay was_ not _worth putting up with Eric's bitchin'...all up in my face with that mother fuckin' pout.

"You know we thought you were dead? I've been readin' the papers every fuckin' day lookin' for your face on the front page. And I do _not_ read fuckin' papers, Bella. I actually cried. Cried 'cause I thought you were dead...and 'cause dealin' with Eric was fuckin' depressing. Thank god he quit his job. Fuck...it was me who told him to do it. Fuck that shit. But here you are all sleepin' and fuck like you don't have a care in the mother fuckin' world. I fuckin' hate you right now."

"That's a _lot_ of fucking, Jess," I said, dropping my face into my hands.

"And you're givin' me attitude too...just fuckin' great!"

"Since when are you from New York?" I asked.

"What da fuck? What?"

"Why are you talking like that?"

"How am I tawkin'?"

I widened my eyes slightly in amusement.

"Fuck you. I have a new man and he's from New Yawk and we live togetha and shit."

"You what? What happened to Mike?"

"Don't change the subject! This is not about me."

"I don't know how to answer you, Jesse! I don't know how to answer _any_ of you. I screwed up and I'm sorry. But I'm back. Fuck. Just leave me be."

"Get up and make me some tea."

"Wha?" I snorted.

Well at least she was a good, solid distraction. She thoroughly flustered me. When she wouldn't remove herself from my bedroom I knew I had no choice but to get up.

"Fine," I huffed. "I could do with some coffee anyway."

Later that night I sat on the rooftop alongside Blade with my chin resting on my knees. One thing about dogs? They don't know how to hold a grudge. He was the only one that welcomed me back without putting me through grief. We sat together and waited for Alice and I tried to ignore the fact that she was a lot later than she usually was. I dreaded the morning as I looked up at the sky. It would be December 14th in a few hours and I had already planned to get myself plastered after my visit with Alice. There was no way I was suffering through that day in a sober state. I wanted to be drunk and passed out all day and definitely all night.

Since returning home I had been too numb to cry but I was dead sure I would feel the moment Edward died. That force would connect with me like a ton of bricks regardless of the distance between us. It would cut through the universe and find me and make damned sure that I suffered through it. So I started early. I went to the roof with a bottle of Grey Goose.

"You think she's trying to wean me slowly, boy?" I asked Blade, enjoying the warmth that came off of his big fury body. He answered with an intelligent yelp and made me smile. "She was late last night too."

"I'm sorry baby," I said to him, looking into this big, trusting eyes. "I know I left you behind, but if I could have had it my way you'd have been right there with me the whole time. You'd never have let Victoria the farting whale chase me through that castle would you?"

He whimpered.

"I know you wouldn't," I said, struggling through the now fond memory. "She'd have thought twice had she been up against you too."

It was surreal to think that Victoria wasn't just a figment of my imagination; that she existed in the world right then, going about her life in France, probably walking through the castle halls at that very moment. I raised the bottle of Vodka to my lips and took a generous swig.

"Shit." I winced through the taste. "I'm out of practice, boy. Since when do I finch at the taste of alcohol."

"Bella."

My head snapped toward the sound immediately and I jumped to my feet.

"Alice, you're here."

"You have to come with me right now," she said, closing the space between us in a second. There was something urgent about her approach and the alarming look in her eyes made me uneasy. I glanced to the side quickly, half expecting to find one of the Elders approaching.

"Okay," I answered, taking another strong shot of Vodka. "Sure...mind if I get plastered first?"

She took the bottle away from me swiftly and chucked it to the side.

"Where are we going?" I asked, not at all upset about going somewhere with her. Something more exciting than frightening starting building up in me then. I needed the rush. I needed the excitement. It made me feel alive and it connected me to the fantasy I had just been torn from. It was also much better than the mundane, depressing routine of my own life. I didn't even care about meeting the Elders. Whether it meant death or not, the rush of the panic was worth it. I craved the action and danger. I wanted it.

"Bella," she said with a troubled look in her eyes. "There's something you need to know."

As soon as she said it something swooped down from the sky and snatched me up. My scream hardly made it out of my throat because I was being crushed so hard. I tried to struggle within the strong clutch, at least to get my face out so that I could breathe, but whoever it was carrying me wouldn't allow me to move.

"Can't...brea...the," I choked out.

"Bella! It's okay! Don't be afraid!" I heard Alice's voice from somewhere around. The darkness inside the cocoon wasn't nearly as bad as the suffocation. My heart pounded so hard it started to hurt. My body broke out in a petrifying sweat and I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head. I couldn't breathe and through the surge of the panic attack I felt my chest swell, trying to give my lungs the space it needed to expand. I squeezed my eyes shut, biting down on my lip until I tasted the rust in my blood. Whoever it was didn't smell familiar so I knew I hadn't been carried by him before. And I knew he was male because he was too large to be either Rose or Esme.

"El...der?" I tried to talk again, but the wheezing sound that came out of me could hardly be called a voice. A putrid nausea gripped me then. It was too dark and I was too constricted, so I knew I was a mere few seconds from either vomiting or passing out. Or both.

"Emmett you're _hurting_ her!" I heard Alice again. The name zapped me like a waft of smelling salts and I opened my eyes against his jet back chest. I felt a slight release in his hold then and I was able to raise my chin just enough to suck in a mouthful of air. The sudden rush of oxygen into my lungs made me choke though and a coughing fit ensued.

"DAMN IT, EMMETT! _STOP_!" Alice screamed.

My stomach flipped when I felt us jerk downward and I guessed we were landing. Not long after I felt the connection with ground and I was released hurriedly but carefully onto my back. Turning on my side, I clutched my stomach and folded myself into the fetal position, coughing and gasping for air. I don't know how the vomit didn't come pouring out of me but the air never tasted as sweet. I gulped at it like a dehydrated cripple after water.

"Bella?" Alice was crouched beside me in the next second and I felt her cold but gentle hand on my face. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, albeit dishonestly and rolled onto my back heavily before taking one last deep breath and opening my eyes.

Had I not been fully acclimatized to the goth nature and eeriness of Gargoyles, the sight over me would have freaked me out. I looked up to see a ring of pale faces looking down at me silently, all brimmed by heavy black hoods that cast dark shadows over their eyes. The black seemed never ending, reaching from the rims of their faces down to the floor, stretching out at their sides to link them together. Even the sky over them seemed like their extension, littered only by the dimly illuminated streaks of clouds.

"Can you stand?" Alice asked. I shifted my eyes to her face and raised my hand to grab onto her, more for protection than physical support. Well...I wanted the rush of danger didn't I? So I got it.

"Stand up," Emmett said to me. I spotted his face only when he spoke. He was standing at my side, next to Alice. I wasn't sure, but I thought I counted more faces than there were in the Cullen Host as Alice helped me to stand. I had never felt so outnumbered, vulnerable or overpowered than I did in that moment. Every last one of them was imposing in structure; tall, wraithlike and combusting with supernatural power. And as a unified group there were even scarier.

A pair of hands held onto my shoulders from behind then. I jumped in alarm and turned around to find Carlisle standing behind me.

"Carlisle," I whispered. I don't know what came over me but I threw myself into his arms and held onto him tightly. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

I could tell by his reaction to my hug that he didn't know whether or not he should hug back, but he ended up patting me on my back before setting me away from him gently.

"Bella," he said, casting an impatient glance at Emmett. "I'm sorry for the way you were brought here."

"Tell me about it," Alice huffed.

"Quiet, Alice," Emmett said in a controlled but agitated voice. "You are but one breath from crossing the same line as Edward did with this girl."

He sounded angry and impatient and by the way he grabbed me into the air, I figured that some of it, if not all, was meant for me. I deserved his wrath I guess, because when I thought about it, of all the faces that were there that night, Rosalie's wasn't one of them. That meant she was still missing. Though I understood his pain of being separated from the one he loved, I knew he wouldn't have appreciated empathy coming from me. So I held my tongue.

"Like you weren't about to cross one yourself?" Alice shot back at him. "I would have made sure you paid dearly had you hurt a single hair on her body."

"Silence," Carlisle said, raising his eyes over my head to glare at them. When he looked at me again, I saw the same troubled look that Alice had in her eyes before Emmett snatched me off the roof.

"Where is Edward?" I asked, blinking up into Carlisle's face.

His eyes softened on me but just as he was about to speak another voice broke through.

"Come to me, child," the voice said. I swallowed nervously, still looking at Carlisle with questions in my eyes. I didn't know that voice. Carlisle nodded in the direction of it and tried to encourage me with a light touch on my shoulder. So I turned around.

On the opposite side of the circle stood a tall, hooded one with his hand held out to me. His hood was so large it hid most of his face, forcing me to squint against the dark to get a peek of him. As if he could read my mind, he raised his both hands then and pushed his hood back to reveal a head covered with long dark hair that fell over his wide shoulders. He wasn't as handsome as the rest of the Cullen Host, but there was something intoxicating about the wild wisdom in his stare and I found myself moving toward him easily. He held his hand out to me again and when I was close enough I took it. When we touched he curled his cold fingers around my hand, noticeably little in comparison to his...and smiled.

"Hello, Isabella," he said, tilting his head in a small bow. "Do you know who I am?"

"No," I said, almost in a whisper.

"I am Aro."

The pieces started falling into place. I had heard his name enough times to feel like I knew him even though I had never actually met him.

"Then yes," I answered. "I do know you."

He raised his eyebrows as if he was impressed by my response, then rocked his head back and let out a loud chuckle.

"I'm beginning to understand," he said.

"Understand?"

"What all the fuss over you is about," he said, widening his eyes daringly, still holding my hand. I swallowed again and looked down at the cold connection between us; feeling oddly at ease with this character, though physically uncomfortable.

"Are you the reason I was brought here?" I asked.

"No, my dear," he answered, cocking his chin to the side. "_You_ are the reason _I_ was brought here."

I exhaled slowly and tightened my fingers around his. When I did that his eyes darted down to our hands briefly then back up again.

"Then you already know everything," I said, begging my voice to sound as controlled as I needed it to. He arched an eyebrow at me. "So now it's only fair that you also know."

Now his both eyebrows raised off his forehead and I could have sworn I saw delight pounce in his eyes.

"Enlighten me, child," he said with a snicker. "For it is not often that I am taught."

"You should know," I started. "...that I am not afraid of what will happen here tonight. I expected this, my judgment. I knew the consequences of my choice from the very beginning and still I chose it. I was afraid before but after living through my worst fear of all...everything else is childsplay. Whether you take my life, or punish me otherwise I hope you know that this is not something you are choosing for me. This is something I chose for myself. Therefore, you are merely the vessel."

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" He reeled in laughter, tossing his head back theatrically. His reaction shocked me. I thought he'd be irritated by my audacity, but instead, he seemed amused by it. When he re-established eye contact with me he leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

"Astounding," he said in wonderment. "I even know you are telling the truth. Your heartbeat is stable. Most humans are afraid and would either be crying or begging by now."

"You said you were guardians," I returned. "Not dominions of the devil, so if humans are made to be afraid of you, you are the one at fault. We should feel safe with you, not threatened."

He wasn't so amused by that.

"Be careful how heavily you thread on unknown ground," he said in a darker tone, losing the amusement in his face. "Do not assume to know about things beyond your understanding. If God himself came down from the heavens this very moment...you would fall to your knees and quake in fear and utmost respect, right along with the rest of us. And _He, _my dear, is the guardian of guardians."

Then his eyes fell to my chest.

"And there it is," he said. "The flicker of fear. Your humanity will always betray you."

He heard the beat my heart had skipped.

"So which is it?" I asked, raising my chin defiantly. "Would you rather I was afraid?"

He let go of my hand then.

"I would rather a human didn't know as much about us as you do."

So my heart stuttered again and his eyes flicked down...again.

"And there it is again; the chink in your armour. But I have to say, I can see why he is so taken with you...why they all are. You have spirit." He touched my chin then and raised my face. "And your face has a certain...angelic quality to it."

I turned my face away from his touch.

"Tell me, Isabella. What would you do about all of this, had you been in my shoes? I can see the accusations bursting through your eyes."

"I would let love live, that's what. You killed him."

"I did no such thing," he answered. "He killed himself. He chose it."

That's when it finally broke out of me. Hearing what sounded like confirmation that Edward was dead felt like a knife in my heart. It started to cut away my numb resistance. A sudden onslaught of emotion washed over me then and the broken person in me came crawling out.

"He's...he is," I stopped to gulp. "...gone?"

"What are you doing?" Alice demanded from behind. Aro's eyes shifted to hers and I saw the warning in them. She didn't say anything further but I felt her move closer to me.

"You say you would let love live," Aro said, blatantly ignoring my question. "But _I_ have to make an example out of those who disobey the rules. What if for every Gargoyle that crossed the line, I let it pass? And what if I kept reinventing the rules to make them all happy? Then I wouldn't be the leader of this Legion, child. I would be your Edward."

"You could never be Edward," I bit out, blinking through the haze in my eyes.

He clasped his hands in front of him then and stepped around me. I shifted accordingly and looked up, seeing for the first time the other faces in the circle. Jane was there, as was another unfamiliar one with longish blond hair. I spotted Esme, Jasper and Jacob. And yes, Emmett, Alice and Carlisle too. The only ones missing were Edward and Rose.

It had to be true then, I thought despairingly. Alice had said that the host would return to Seattle once things were "final", and surely, they were all there standing in front of me. The thought alone made my chest start to heave as my breathing got laboured.

Aro was talking again, but his voice disappeared behind the pounding in my head, reducing him to a dull echo.

"I didn't feel it," I whispered, touching my stomach in despair.

"Feel it?" Aro asked.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned to Alice. "I thought I'd feel it..."

"Bella..." she said, looking just as tormented as I was.

"I was sure it would reach me somehow," I went on, tremulously.

"What are you talking about?" Alice whispered softly, taking my shoulders in her hands.

I blinked through another build up of haze and released two swollen threads of tears.

"I thought I would know when he died."

"Bella...Edward isn't dead," she whispered.

Before I could react, the swarm of them had closed in on us and I saw Jasper pull Alice away hastily. I widened my eyes in crazed shock and stared at the thin air in confusion; stumbling through a barrage of conflicting emotions all at once.

"Not _yet._...you mean, right?" I forced out of my mouth, terrified to allow myself hope. Aro stepped into the center then and held his hand out to me for the second time.

"Mark my words, Isabella, he is dead to my world," he said, stepping so close that he towered over me.

"I'm confused," I muttered, unable to control the hysterics that started building up. My eyes were darting everywhere, looking for some hint or sign to cut through the mystery.

"Care to be enlightened?" He asked, wriggling his fingers in my face for me to take his hand.

When I didn't answer, or more because I couldn't because my throat had started to clamp up with the oncoming anxiety attack, he took my hand himself.

"I will show you his body."

"What?" I managed to force out. I tried pulling my hand away, but it was easy for him to prevent that. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing, wondering where the hell all my courage had evaporated to. The next thing I knew, he was pulling me against him and a mere second later we were ascending into the sky.

"I think you want to see this," he said.

"His body?" I bit out harshly. "No I don't! And what did Alice mean by he isn't dead?"

A paralyzing horror gripped me then as the answer formed itself in my head.

"_This_ is my punishment isn't it?" I cried out, looking up into his face as the wind whooshed past my ears icily. "The only thing that would break me even more than I already am. The only thing scarier than losing him like I did."

He didn't answer.

"He isn't dead, yet, because you are _about_ to kill him, aren't you?" I cried on. "And you're going to force me to watch it!"

Again, no answer, but the concentration on his face and the satisfied gleam in his eyes gave me all the answer I needed.

"Oh my _God_! You are a monster! How can you call yourself a guardian? I didn't think I could hate you more than that day Edward explained himself...but now I do. You can't possibly want to make me watch this!"

"_You _my dear said you were ready for anything," he said. "You put up a very impressive show back there for everyone. Said that you knew what you were getting yourself into. You said that this was your choice and not mine. I am only the vessel, remember?"

"I can't believe this is happening," I cried, squeezing my tears through my tightly shut eyes. "This is manipulation."

The terror I felt in those moments topped every torturous emotion I felt while with Edward in France. It topped the moment I found out about his death. It topped the nights of endless pain and despair, and it topped our excruciating parting. This had to be the worst of all. I would never be able to survive seeing Edward killed. And even if I did, it would cripple me for the rest of my life. Not even the notion of seeing him one last time assuaged my terror. There had to be a way out of this.

"I haven't uttered a single word about your world to anyone I know," I said, completely panic stricken. "I didn't say anything before I left, I haven't said anything since I returned and I never would. Your secret is as dear to me as the Cullen Host is. As dear to me and Edward and Alice themselves. I would never ever do anything to hurt your world...never."

He remained quiet, gliding through the air with a kind of grace and command that none of the Cullens had. He cut through the air soundlessly without even so much as an audible gust from the flap of his wings, keeping his eyes forward.

"Please find another way to deal with me. I will do anything else but this, Aro. Anything! I swear to never tell a soul. And I give you authority to keep tabs on me and make sure that I don't. Oh my god...take my memory if you have to, but not this!"

"I already have authority over you in the way I want," he answered. "And whether or not you consent to my surveillance...if you are allowed your memory that is, I would see to it that you are watched anyway."

I got sick. The vomit that didn't make it to my mouth earlier on finally did. He knew it too and he turned me outward just before my insides came erupting out. I gagged as my hair fluttered around my eyes. My stomach hurt and heaved, and his pressing arm across my rib cage made it worse. Just when I thought it was over, we started to descend and my stomach turned again. Had I anything left to vomit, I would have. The dry wretching however, wasn't any less painful.

When his feet touched the ground he put me down and I bent over to grab on to my knees; still dry heaving.

"Perhaps, that was your punishment," he said solemnly.

I took a deep breath and raised my head to frown at him.

"Huh?"

"Allowing you to believe the worst then heave yourself to decapitation," he said, "...was your punishment."

I stood straight and wiped my face clean with the sleeve of my coat.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, watching as his wings folded then retracted into his back.

"You were the one that assumed I would force you to witness the end of Edward's life, Isabella. I never said any such thing."

I frowned copiously and shook my head, still not fully understanding. Then he waved his arm outward.

"Shall we?"

I blinked toward the back of a large expanse of building to which he was pointing.

"Where are we?"

"The hospital."

I looked at him again, tucking my hair behind my ears.

"I don't get it."

"You will," he said, taking off toward the building. I stood there like a paralyzed imbecile and looked at him walk away for at least half a minute before I followed at a much slower pace. The building was a lot further away than it seemed, but it had to be, or else Aro wouldn't have landed there.

When I finally caught up to him he bent his elbow outward for me to take. I would have refused had I not been weak and drained from the events of the night so far. but I needed the physical support and he saw that. When I linked my arm with his he walked toward the hospital entrance, still refusing to explain why we were there.

He walked me in through the front, walked through a few corridors, took me up one floor in the elevator then went over to the nurse's station, leaving me confused and bewildered in the waiting lounge. After talking to the nurse he waved me over and I cooperated.

Taking me by my shoulders then he ushered me down the corridor then placed me in front of a closed door.

"Look," he said, and raised his hand over my shoulder toward the little, rectangular glass window in the door. I stared at the little window apprehensively, too afraid to actually peer through for fear of what I might see. I was also afraid that I might find Edward in there and that seeing him again when I knew he was about to die would be too much for me to take. But then...what would a Gargoyle be doing in the hospital?

"Go on," Aro urged. "I don't have all night."

Slowly and carefully, I put my feet forward one before the other until I came to the window. With a slow intake of breath I raised my chin and looked through it, feeling tightly strapped in my chest.

The bronze head of hair that caught my eyes made my heart somersault, and I stumbled backward unconsciously into Aro's body, gasping loudly in shock. He leaned over my shoulder then and whispered into my hear.

"Human," he whispered. "Like you."

My eyes sprung with water immediately. I grabbed onto my mouth and looked through the window again, completely awestruck and stunned by what I was seeing. Edward was there lying on his back with his face turned the other way, his bronze head of hair clashing with the light green pillow case. He had a thin strip of bandage tied around his head and his chest was bound in layers of thick gauze.

My hand immediately shot out for the door knob, ready to open it and pounce into the room, but Aro grabbed me by my wrist and held me in place.

"My reasons for doing this are mine, but it so happens that you end up benefiting from it. However, understand that from this moment on you will be under constant surveillance and I do not mean by the Cullen Host. I will have my eyes on you, Isabella. I give you this gift but I can also take it away. I demand that you treat it with the utmost care and gratitude..."

I was listening to him but I never took my eyes away from the vision through the rectangular frame.

"This is our pact, Isabella. Edward, for your silence."

I nodded dumbly, just about ready to do anything to make this decision easier on him. I would have done absolutely anything right then for the release of bursting through that door.

"You are strictly forbidden to talk of our world, including his part in it, to _any_ human. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I whispered tearfully, nodding hysterically through a cascade of miraculous tears.

"You are the only human who knows him. There is no one else that will understand his transition like you will. He needs your guidance and your care since the last time he was human was in 1809. And for that reason only, I am allowing you to keep your memory, so that you can help him, since you understand."

I closed my eyes and shed a few more tears in relief. It felt like I had been waiting forever to be cleared of that memory charge.

"In the drawer of the nightstand you will find a file with his name on it. It is extremely important that you read and fall in line with _everything_ inside. Sticking to the file will make this a lot easier than you can imagine."

There was absolutely nothing difficult about what I was about to do. I couldn't think of a single thing that would dampen or sour that moment. It was too good to believe; that Edward was actually alive, and waiting for me..._human_. I was aching to run to him, throw my arms around and cry all over him. And just the anticipation of touching him again and feeling his arms around me...just the notion of finding warmth on his skin instead of unyielding coldness was more than I could stand. My body started reacting to my urgency, trembling in desperation to go to him. But Aro was still in my way.

"I don't know what you made you choose this," I whispered. "...but thank you, Aro."

"Edward was not created Gargoyle. He was born human, and so rightfully, he belongs to your world and not mine. His death was also paid by another, and so he has the chance to live again. There are some things that even I have to respect, love is one...self sacrifice is another."

I frowned slightly and dared to look away from Edward's visage and up into Aro's face.

"Self sacrifice?"

"One of his host sacrificed her life so that he may live."

The pit of my stomach gave away then as I shifted my eyes between his deep gray ones, blundering through a sickening realization.

"Rosalie," I whispered, staring with wide eyes, feeling very cold all of a sudden.

"Yes."

"But...she hated us."

"She hated your world more," he answered. "She asked for peace, and so I gave it."

"Goodness," I whispered, closing my eyes to allow it to sink in. "I don't know how to react to that. I almost feel terrible for being...happy."

"Grateful, might be the word you are looking for. You got what you wanted, now do your best."

I turned toward the door again and sure enough the visage was still there, waiting for me to run and throw myself at him. He still didn't know we were outside. I clutched the door handle again and twisted it but Aro pulled on my wrist again.

"Remember, Isabella, because this is the last time you will hear it. Pay heed to the file. Read it in detail and adhere to everything. You are now in a pact with me. You do _not _want to fail me. Keep your word and your silence and know that until the day you die...I will _always _be watching. I have eyes everywhere."

"I promise," I said hurriedly. The moment he released my wrist I pushed the door open and flung myself into the room. I ran to Edward with fast legs, tears all over me, dripping off my chin and onto the floor.

"Edward!" I shrieked. "Edward!"

He sat up slowly when I burst in, wincing in pain through his movement as our eyes connected. The first thing I noticed was that they were no longer gun metal gray. They were now emerald green and for some reason, filled with alarm.

I must have shocked him.

Too accustomed to his resilience and indestructible nature, I threw myself onto him just as he was moving his legs over the side of the bed. He screamed in pain when our bodies connected and pushed me off frantically, wrapping his arms around his centre in reaction to the hurt I had caused.

"I'm sorry!" I shrieked, darting back nervously with wide eyes. "I'm so sorry...you are hurt!"

I couldn't take my hands off of him though. Even with his head bent and his body buckled in pain as he tried to overcome it, my hands ran everywhere from his hair, to the sides of his face, his bare shoulders and arms. His body was still the same, chiseled and indented with just the right amount of muscle. Except, his skin glowed with the redness of blood underneath, making him a lot less pale than I remembered.

"Edward," I whispered, still touching him like he was a materialized ghost. "I can't believe it. You are here...you are alive, baby. It's almost too incredible to believe...that you are actually..._human!_"

He raised his head then and looked at me with the most confounding expression on his face. Right in that moment when our eyes connected again something passed between us, and I literally cringed.

He parted his lips to speak, maintaining the deep frown on his brow as my hands fell away from him. In the last nanosecond before he spoke my pores raised and the cold passover I had felt in the hallway when Aro talked about Rose, fell over me again.

"I'm sorry," he said, tilting his head to the side slightly, looking confused. "But...who are you?"

**~*~ THE END** ~*~

A/N: You knew that had to happen. LOL. Please proceed to the epilogue and then to the sequel afterward, where things will be explained. Of course there's a sequel! I wouldn't leave it here like this. People would hunt me down *teehee* On to the epilogue!

Thank you for reading.


	21. EPILOGUE

**A/N**: My apologies for the late post of this epilogue. I was away for a week on business and that held me back. Here it is! Enjoy! Much love to you all and thank you for all your support. Please don't forget to vote for this story in the Silent Tear Awards. It's in the Best Supernatural category.

_The medical document below is false and is in no way connected to the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle._

**EPILOGUE**

Harborview Medical Center

325 9th Avenue,

Seattle, WA 98104

(206) 731-3000/ 3041

Date: December 14th, 2009

**CLINICAL SUMMARY: Mr. EDWARD CULLEN: IP. No.7459-20**

**Diagnosis: TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY WITH HEMORRHAGIC CONTUSIONS RIGHT FRONTO TEMPOROPARIETAL REGION STATUS POST DECOMPRESSIVE CRANIOTOMY / TRACHEOSTOMY. **

**ICU CLINICAL SUMMARY: **

This 24 year old man was brought into the ER on December 13, 2009 following a road traffic accident while on his two wheeler. He collided with a bus at 10pm and became unconscious immediately. In the ER his GCS was 8/15 and all vital signs were stable. Preliminary lab investigations were within normal limits. However, a CT brain scan showed right fronto temporoparietal contusions, severe damage to the nerves and axons and swelling of the brain.

He was admitted to the ICU for close monitoring and treated with anitidema measures, seizure and DVT prophylaxis.

He developed a fever later in the night since there was a mastoid fracture. Antibiotics for possible post traumatic meningitis was started.

Since awakening the day after, 14/12/09, memory loss has been noticed, attributed to the brain damage and consequent swelling. The patient is unable to remember the events leading up to or during his injury. Memory of events afterward is spatial and incognitive. There is a general loss of the meaning of certain common, everyday objects or words, as well as his skills before his injury. He does however, somehow, remember his name although there is some discrepancy with his surname.

He has been temporarily diagnosed with Fixed Amnesia. There is hope that this condition can be re-diagnosed to anteretrograde status over time as the swelling of the brain goes down.

Given the severe traumatic brain injury including the need for decompressive craniotomy, he will require hospitalization for a further period of three weeks.

**Dr. Emily Young**

**Consultant**

**Department of Critical Care**

**Bella**

The first document in the file hardly made sense. There were just too many big, medical terms for it to read smoothly. Still, I read it over and over like fifteen times or so, slumped on the floor of the small toilet and bath in the hospital room, focusing on the words_ Fixed Amnesia_.

After the lack of recognition in Edward's eyes and his very genuine "_Who are you?_"; the way he pushed me off of him like a man on fire and the alarm in his eyes when I touched him; I knew that something was very, _very_ wrong.

I had stumbled backward when he said it, my eyes flashing between his strange but familiar ones in hurt confusion; wondering why he would think it funny to make such a cruel joke.

I knew it was no joke though. His eyes were too honest, and ironically, the blood in my veins ran cold just as his had finally turned warm. I had to rub my hands up and down my thickly sleeved arms to singe the chill but it did no good. I was frozen. The air of uncertainty was thick and heavy between us and for the first time since knowing Edward, he looked uncomfortable in my presence...awkward and unsure of himself.

"What do you mean?" I asked finally, hurt and bewildered as the abrasive indentation on his brow deepened. "You know who I am, Edward. It's _me_..."

He shook his head a bit too roughly then winced in pain and touched his temple, biting back an ugly word with his head held down. "I don't," was all he said as he lowered his body back onto the bed in exasperation.

My heart tugged in denial as I noticed something else about him. His accent was different. He had said a mere five to eight words to me so far, but already I could hear it. It wasn't an American accent. It was different.

Then as if he had already pushed me from his mind, he released a laboured sigh, closed his eyes and fell asleep. Just like that.

"What?" I whispered, stepping closer to the bed to look down at him. It only took a few seconds, but Edward had fallen asleep. A severe panic rose in my chest then. I hurried to the door, pulled it open and stepped out into the hallway, looking for any sign of Aro. Of course, he was nowhere in sight.

I glanced at my watch. It was just after midnight. There were still a few hours of night left, though I had no way of catching up to or finding him without a car, and no knowledge of where he was. That's when I noticed a female doctor take sight of me and start to make her way over. The organ in my chest kept backfiring like an old, overworked muffler. In excruciating discomfort I backed into Edward's room again, swallowing at the air as I ran to the night stand to find the file Aro told me about.

Anger, laced with confusion flared like a licking fire behind my eyes, threatening to burn everything in sight to sheds if I didn't get some answers soon. The file sat alone in the drawer; a manilla folder with the word "confidential" stamped across the front. I snatched it carelessly just as the door swung open and the woman walked in.

"Miss Swan," she said.

I looked at her without answering, only partially curious at the ease with which she said my name. The precision with which she glided across the room struck me and sparked another note of awareness in my mind. I'd know that porcelain, hardened perfection anywhere; that hint of a shadow under her steely grey eyes and the indestructible confidence with which she smiled. She was a Gargoyle.

"I'm Dr. Young," she said gently, holding her hand out to me.

Looking at her outstretched hand, I nodded with the file clutched protectively to my chest.

"So they let Gargoyles be doctors." It came out more like a brash statement than a question and I saw the way she glanced at Edward, as if checking to make sure he was asleep and hadn't heard.

Seemingly caught off guard with how bluntly I called her out, she dropped her outstretched hand and pulled a stuffed enveloped from her lab coat pocket.

"You ought to me more careful, Miss Swan. This goes with his file," she said. "It's confidential. Make sure you destroy the note after you read it."

I don't know why I felt like I should blame her for anything that was happening. I'd never met her before, but she was a Gargoyle in the line of fire and the only thing I could link this horrid nightmare to at the time. The fire that I spit from my eyes doused on her cool exterior though, and all she did was cross her arms calmly across her chest once I took the envelope from her.

"In answer to your previous question," she said, flicking a sweep of jet black, dead straight hair from her eyes. "I was stationed here the night before your fiancé was admitted, so that I may receive him. It's a temporary arrangement. I will..."

"Wait," I interjected, widening my eyes in alarm. "My what?"

"Oh..." she hesitated. "Aro didn't tell you."

"No, he didn't," I spat out. "There was a lot he failed to tell me, wouldn't you say?"

"Read the file," she answered. "You will get your answers in there. Aro is not a man of many words."

"He's not a man at all," I noted with disgust. "He is a Gargoyle and he had plenty to say to me tonight by the way, though he made damned sure to omit the important parts."

I held my arm with the file out toward Edward then. "Are you trying to tell me that he really doesn't know who I am?"

"Like I said," she said with raised eyebrows. "Read the file."

"What a fucked up twist of fate..."

Somehow, choosing to be angry instead of sad...though I was sad, strengthened me. Since returning from France I had found a way to let numbness override my pain. Now I let force take control, because I just knew I wouldn't be able to survive the full attack of the disappointment that worked _really_ fucking hard to break down my wall of resistance. The fact that Edward should be my fiancé now that he didn't know who I was, was just downright cruel and I found myself rejecting the idea. That was not the way it was supposed to be.

"Look, I can't give you what you seek. I am only here to assist you with Edward. I am his doctor for all intents and purposes and will ensure this gets the privacy it needs while he is here. His body has to go through a healing process and you may not be able to handle that on your own. So right now, the hospital is the best place for him where he can get the physical attention he needs. You will receive special privileges to visit whenever you like, or to stay as long as you wish. Visiting hours will not apply to you since you are his fiancé...and the only family he has. Uncle Aro saw to that, and regrets that he couldn't stay."

_I'm so fucking sure he regrets any of this_...

"Uncle Aro?" I quirked with an indelible frown.

"Edward's uncle...not yours."

"What the fuck ever," I grimaced, caring less and less about Emily's impression of me.

"Very well," she said. "I will give you a few minutes to read the file before I check on you again. She then walked over to Edward, fiddled with his bandages, took his temperature and jotted something down on the clipboard over his bed head. "He still has a very high fever."

"Are you even a qualified to look after him?" I demanded, pursing my lips in suspicion, suddenly worried that he wouldn't be getting the treatment he needed.

"Miss Swan," she said in a bored tone. "From what I heard, you know enough about us to realize that that concern is an insult. Do you honestly think me incapable of tending to your human?"

_My human..._

"Then what's the charade about?" I asked impatiently. "Couldn't you just heal him?"

"That is not my gift, so no. It is also not how Aro wants him to heal. It has to happen naturally."

"Then what _can _you do?" I asked.

I could have sworn I saw something like excitement or maybe even mischief flash between her eyes then. She shifted her gaze to the bathroom door just before I heard the lock click. I followed her stare and watched as the door knob turned and the door swung open. The next thing I knew, the file I was holding was being tugged from my grasp under the pull of her eyes. I let it happen, watching as it floated through the air and landed on the toilet floor.

"Telekinesis," I whispered in wonderment as she did the same thing with the envelope she had given to me; moving the objects with just the energy in her eyes.

"Read it in there," she said. "The nurses will be around shortly to administer another dose of antibiotics and you need to be fully acquainted with the situation before you communicate with anyone else."

Without another word she breezed past me and left the room. Edward never moved.

I locked myself in the toilet then and started to read. After his diagnosis, most of which flew right over my head, I read his general information. He was recorded as Edward Cullen. He was 24 years old and he was British.

_British?_

I whispered to myself as I read. "I guess that explains his accent."

Then it hit me. I remembered when Edward told me the tragic story of how and why he was turned into a Gargoyle. He had just lost his fiancé, Tanya, and yes...it had happened in England, two hundred years ago. Another chill ran through me as I tried to concentrate on all the new details I would have to know about him. Dropping the documents in my lap, I peeled off my coat and sweater as beads of sweat started popping out all over me; still whispering the words to myself as I read them.

"No family in the US...no job to record...patient unable to give details about place of residence, skills etc. His ID states a residence in down town Seattle...what ID? He was brought into the ER by an Uncle. The Uncle was able to fill in some blanks and made reference to a fiancé, Isabella Swan, whom he contacted. Patient to be released to Ms. Swan on evidence of identification."

I pulled the neckline of my t-shirt downward and exhaled. "My God..."

"Patient's belongings from crash site was confiscated by the police officers and later submitted to the hospital...debilitated vehicle impounded...wait...what belongings?"

I reached for the envelope that Dr. Young gave me then. On tearing it open, a cell phone, wallet and folded piece of paper fell on the file in my lap. I took the wallet first. A picture ID with a social security number stared back at me. There was also a driver's/biker's license with a down town Seattle address and a debit card. I passed my thumb over his picture and held it up to my face to squint at it. I couldn't tell the colour of his eyes from the picture, but I was sure the image was captured before he was turned human. I'd know Gargoyle Edward anywhere.

I unfolded the page that fell out of the envelope next and started reading.

"_Isabella, by now you'd have realised that Edward has lost his memory. I didn't tell you myself because it would have led to a barrage of questions that I had no time to answer. I thought you capable of dealing with this and so I had no fear that you would adjust quickly. The shock will wear off in time...trust me..."_ I rolled my eyes dramatically then continued to whisper the words out loud as I read. _"You are recorded as Edward's fiancé. What you choose to do with that is your business entirely. I made it that way so that you would have comfortable access to him while he is admitted to the hospital. _

"_And yes, I stationed Dr. Young there to help you, and to divert all curiosity about Edward's case elsewhere. As long as she is there, you will have no trouble. Of course, she is only there at night, so you will have to stay out of trouble during the day; if you can manage? His diagnosis is purely a cover, for human medical purposes only. He has suffered no brain injury of any kind. His Gargoyle memories has simply been extracted. This is a natural occurrence when Gargoyles become human. The human mind cannot withstand the weight of the memories of a Gargoyle's lifetime. If that was possible he would go clinically insane. Think of what happens to soldiers on returning home from war. They become hardened, go crazy and some even turn suicidal after the things they have seen in battle. Now multiply that effect by infinity and you may begin to get the picture. His medical diagnosis is simply a rational explanation for his condition at this time. You will find that he will often be confused, agitated, withdrawn and tired. These will wear off as he heals. His physical impairments are temporary and are directly related to his metamorphosis. There was no vehicular accident, though one was staged. _

"_As he gets better his pre-Gargoyle human memories will start to come back to him. Because they are from a different time and place they will confuse and torture him greatly. You have to be extremely patient. Naturally, he will assume that these memories are from dreams because they will make no logical sense given the new world around him. My advice is that you go along with it and make him believe that these are dreams. It will be difficult because they will feel very real to him since they are his actual human memories. However, he is better off thinking that all his memories are gone. Once you leave the hospital with him, you will have to take care of him and help him re-establish his human life. For all intents and purposes, he was a high school teacher, but this will no longer apply since he is now unable to teach. _

"_This is your challenge as well as it is your sentence, Isabella. It is also a true test of the love you claim to have for him. He is not the same Edward you will remember, though intrinsically he is. Search deep to find him beneath all that is new and keep faith. Remember also that you are surrounded. One slip of the tongue to him about his supernatural life and things will become very unpleasant. He is human again and so that subjects him to our law of secrecy and bars you from revealing anything. I suspect he didn't tell you the effects of becoming human again when he had the chance because he never thought it was an option for himself, and therefore saw no need to. In any event, you have my best wishes. Destroy this letter and be careful. Uncle Aro."_

Oh the audacity of writing '_Uncle'_ in there was just too much. I tore the page to shreds and dusted the pieces away from me antagonistically.

"Just fucking great," I muttered, closing my eyes tightly and allowing my head to fall back against the wall. "It's always too good to be true, isn't it? Never a fucking break."

The light knock on the door startled me then.

"What?" I grunted.

"Miss Swan?" Came a light female voice. I pushed my hair behind my both ears and started gathering everything together.

"Yes?"

"Dr. Young wishes to have a word with you. It's almost the end of her shift."

I looked at my watch; almost 4am. Where did the time go?

"I'm coming," I answered, shoving everything back into their respective holding places. I swept the shreds of evidence into a corner with the edge of my shoe and opened the door only fractionally.

"Where is she?" I asked, peeking out. The nurse stepped away partially and pointed to Edward's bed. The pair of green eyes that stared back at me sent a jolt of painful nostalgia into my gut. With every inch of my being I wanted to run to him and shed my tears of frustration and confusion on his shoulder. But the blankness in his eyes strangled my courage and held me firmly in place.

Dr. Young then dismissed the nurse and summoned me out of the toilet.

"Mr. Cullen," she said, as I made my way slowly toward the pair of staring emerald orbs. The closer I got the more his blankness turned to curiosity. "Edward...Isabella is here. Is there anything familiar about her?"

He pulled his eyebrows together in stern concentration and focused on my face, channelling every bit of his energy into his task. My heart sunk to my stomach when I saw his desperation turn to poignant frustration.

He swallowed and exhaled harshly, scouring every spot on my face with his daggering stare, getting more and more impatient with himself with every second. I got angry with Dr. Young again. She knew he wouldn't remember and _I_ knew that this was just a show, to brain wash him into thinking that he had lost his memory in an accident and that he was still under observation.

"No," he bit out agitatedly, breaking our eye contact to throw his head back against the pillow. "There's nothing." He dug his fingers into his hair on both sides and pulled hard.

"She is your fiancé," the doc said. "Can you tell me anything about..."

"I said no!" He snapped, and I jumped slightly. "She is my fiancé, so you keep telling me but it doesn't ring a bell." Then he stabbed his temples with his index fingers angrily. "There's nothing!"

He shot me another agitated glance, then ran his fingers through his hair, raking the thick tufts over the top of his head.

A harsh lump lodged itself in my throat as I was forced to come to terms with and accept the truth. Edward _did_ die. He was dead. The person I fell in love with and the person who was looking at me right then were two different people entirely. I'd never felt so estranged from him, not even when he sat removed from me at a table at Barca the first time I'd ever seen him. Not even when every movement I made to push myself toward him resulted in him taking taking a few steps backward. Not even when he disappeared in the hope of putting the world between us because he didn't think we could be together. Not even when we really _were_ strangers did it feel like this. Because back then his eyes held mine in quiet, adoring observation. They drew me in with every bat of his lids and every sweep of his glance. They were deep and mysterious and hypnotic; and they knew me.

These new eyes were full of disdain, veiled by confusion and frustration and at some moments fear. They had lost their quietness and surety and they most certainly did _not_ know me.

I didn't even realise I had tears rolling down my cheeks until Dr. Young yanked a tissue out of a box on the night stand and offered it to me. Edward covered his face with his both hands then and screamed into his palms, unable to deal with so much so soon. He was in pain. He had lost his memory. He was surrounded by strangeness and had a tearful, unfamiliar woman at his side...claiming to be his fiancé.

I didn't only cry for myself. I cried for him too. It was awful. I had wanted Edward for myself, wanted him to live so that we could be together, but I didn't want this. And as I stood there and witnessed his torture first hand I felt ready to give it all up again just so that he could have peace instead. As that thought occurred to me I remembered what Aro had said about Rosalie. He said she wanted peace; that she couldn't bare to live on as human given the challenges she would have to face. And he gave it to her. I understood. Because who would want this?

That was the moment I decided to suck it up and brave the storm. Edward needed me even if he didn't want me, he needed me. He was alone and every much as vulnerable as a newborn in a new world when compared to the strength he had just been torn from. Allowing myself to fall apart and come undone wouldn't help either one of us. It would only make it all that much harder to cope with.

"Leave him alone," I said, my voice choking through my tears. I wiped my face with the tissue and nodded at Dr. Young. "He doesn't have to remember. I do. And that will be enough."

Something fell over Emily Young's face then. She raised her chin and looked at me quietly for a few seconds before a small smile pulled the corners of her mouth outward.

"It won't be much longer," she said. "I will discharge him once his fever subsides and you can take him home. I thought we would need to keep him for three weeks but I will try to cut it down to one after some more tests are run."

"Thank you, Doctor," I said.

She came to my side then and whispered. "The letter from Aro?"

"In there," I answered and gestured to the open toilet door. She was in and out of there in a matter of seconds and after a quick good bye, she left me with Edward.

I had no idea what to say to him after that, how to approach him, or if I should leave him. But standing there looking at him run his hands through his hair repeatedly, staring into space like he was shocked, was grinding me to my core, so I decided to give him space.

"Wait," he said, when I turned to leave. His voice was just about the only thing about him that was the same, despite his accent. How could someone so close to my soul be such a complete stranger at the same time; be the same, though completely removed from any likeness of his former self?

I stopped when he spoke, but didn't turn to face him.

"Are you leaving?" He asked.

With a small intake of air, I bit down on my lower lip and turned to him slowly.

"I was just going to sit in the lobby for a bit...give you some time to yourself. It's almost dawn, you should get some sleep."

He bore holes through my head with his eyes and for the first time since seeing him again it looked like there was something behind there. My breath caught in my throat as his gaze softened on my face; half expecting, half wishing that he would smile and say that it was all a prank...that he was pretending all along so that the other Gargoyles wouldn't know he was okay.

"I am sorry...Isabella," he said. And I knew that I had wished in vain. "But would you mind terribly if you stayed? I don't want to be alone."

The lump pressed against my windpipe again as I stood there and registered his discomfort.

"I'm here," I said softly and let my feet take me to him. He frowned slightly when I sat at his side on the edge of the bed, but I didn't move away. He would have to get used to me being close. I was his fiancé after all...

He stared at me a lot and I figured he was trying to find something familiar about me; trying to prompt his memory. It was the hardest thing, keeping this secret from him. The irony of our dilemma made no attempt to conceal its ugly head. Our roles were reversed and now I was the one with a wealth of mystic knowledge that I couldn't share with him. The shock kept riling itself through me over and over, pulling me so far into my own head that I ended up spacing out partially.

"Isabella..." He said.

Snapping out of it, I shifted my eyes down to his and smiled thinly. "You like to call me Bella."

He blinked and wet his lips with his tongue. There was nothing sexual about it, nor did it affect me as such, but for the briefest of moments I wondered what his human tongue would feel like.

"I do?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "I do..."

"Do you?"

"Bella...," he tested the word. "Yes, I think I do."

"You do."

And the first glimpse of a smile touched his eyes. His sentences and questions were few and far between, because he spent most of his time staring then apologising for staring and I had to keep reminding him that it was okay. I didn't mind. I returned his stare comfortably and together we sat like that in silence until he had something new to ask or say. I thought it best to let him do most of the talking at first, because frankly, I didn't know what the fuck to do or say. I needed to go by his pace and so I let him lead.

"I have so many questions," he said.

Again...Ironic. I was once the one with all the questions in the world for him. And though he shouldn't have answered, he did. And this was where we ended up.

"I know and I will answer you as best as I am able."

"Will you be here tomorrow when I wake up?" He asked, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier under the weight of his painkillers.

I dared to touch his hand then and his eyes flickered down to the faint connection between us.

"Edward," I whispered. "I am not going anywhere."

One week later we were no closer than any two strangers sharing the same room. He slept a lot and when he wasn't sleeping he was fussed over by nurses either medicating him, wheeling him off for another series of tests or batting their lashes at him.

Every time he had to get his sponge bath he would glance at me awkwardly until I'd roll my eyes and vacate the room to give him privacy. If he had any idea exactly how acquainted I was with his anatomy he would be sending the nurse away and demanding that _I_ give him his sponge baths instead...the fucker.

I called Angela from the lobby pay phone the first time it happened, on the morning of the first day.

"This is getting really old, Bella," she said, after she heard my voice. "What's with the Houdini act?"

"Hey I called within twenty four hours this time. Give me a break already. I'm dealing with a lot of shit right now."

"Well, you're alive; always a good sign I suppose." She was trying to be cold, but I knew it was just exasperation. And perhaps I deserved it.

"I'm ok. I'll be gone for a few days though, probably like a week or so."

"What's going on, Bella." She exhaled. "What's with all the strange behaviour and sneaking around? You left Blade outside last night. He was howling at the back door like a lunatic, and imagine my surprise when I opened it to find him alone out there. He ran up to the roof and I followed him, but you were gone. I was completely freaked out by it, especially with the way he kept barking at the sky. But I decided to chill out 'cause you've been so odd since you came back."

"Blade," I said, closing my eyes and pressing my hand to my forehead. "Is he okay?"

"He was very worked up but he's fine now. He slept in your bed. Stop doing this to him, Bella. He can't take it."

"It's not on purpose, Angel," I said with a sigh, pressing my forehead against the wall. I hated that she didn't understand and that I had to keep all of it bottled up inside. "I'll make it up to him when I get back."

"Where are you?"

"At the hospital."

"What?"

"Relax," I said. "It's not me...it's a...a friend of mine. He was in an accident."

"Oh my gosh, Bella! Who is it?"

"It's Edward."

She fell silent.

"He's in pretty bad shape," I said. "They're keeping him for a while..."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said softly. "I hope he'll be okay."

I couldn't bring myself to tell her that he'd have to move in with us, for fear that she would change the locks on me. So I kept that part to myself for the time being.

"Thanks for everything, Angel," I said. "For putting up with me and for taking care of Blade when I couldn't. I'll make it up to you too. I promise."

"See you when you get back," she answered. "I hope everything works out."

Seven nights later I led a very sullen and introverted Edward up the path to my front door. Dr. Emily Young had organized a cab to take us home, and after a wistful goodbye, we parted ways...not for the last time I assumed. Whether it was my inner desire to stay connected to the Gargoyle world, or the mystic look behind her grey stare, I got the distinct feeling that I'd be seeing Emily Young again.

I knocked on the door, listening as Blade near combusted on the other side.

"This is where I live," I said to Edward. His expression was dark and pensive. He kept his eyes on the door and nodded silently. When the door opened, Blade leapt out, passed me like a full bus and launched himself at Edward. Visibly taken aback, Edward grabbed him and shrieked in alarm.

"BLADE!" Both Angela and I yelled in unison. Knowing that Edward was still in a lot of physical pain, I grabbed for Blade's collar and yanked him back harshly. "NO!"

Shockingly enough, even though Edward winced in pain at the sudden attack, he didn't look upset. He was visibly biting back a bout of pain but he stared at Blade curiously. Angela had to help me hold Blade down. He was yelping and jumping, trying his darnedest to break free so he could dive on Edward again.

It was obvious to me that he remembered him. He knew that even though there was something different, it was Edward.

"Very good, boy," I whispered in his ear as I stopped at his side. "Yes, I know...he's our Edward, but we have to be careful okay? He's hurt." And just like I remembered, when I said the name Edward, his ears perked up in excitement.

"Angela," I said next, standing. "This is Edward. Edward, this is my room mate, Angela."

Angela scoped him out from head to toe, finally able to put a face to the infamous name. "I'm her best friend," she corrected. "Sorry to hear about your accident, but thank goodness you're okay now."

Edward, pushed his hands into his pants pockets and nodded dubiously. "Ummm..." he said, then shot me a questioning glance. And I knew instantly what his concern was.

"No, it's the first time you are meeting her," I said to him softly. "You don't know each other."

He swallowed and looked away and an uncomfortable silence fell over the three of us. Angela was blatantly confused and she didn't try to hide it.

"I'll explain everything once we get inside," I said to her, signalling for us to walk in.

"What's there to explain?" Edward said, shrugging callously. "I lost my memory in an accident I have absolutely no recollection of. So basically I'm a mental fruit."

"You are not a mental fruit," I snapped at him, shooting him a stabbing glare.

"Then what do you call this," he bit out. "I don't even remember _you_...and all this?" He ran his eyes over his surroundings, "...feels like a dream. I have instincts that feel obsolete because they can't connect to anything around me. Fruit."

"I'm going inside," I answered briefly, tugging a very heavy Blade with me. "Fruit shrivels up in the cold by the way," I called back over my shoulder. "So unless you wanna be sorbet in a few minutes you might want to come inside."

Twenty minutes later Angela and I were pacing the floor of our small living room together wondering how to get Edward to come into the house. She had taken the news of him moving in with us well enough.

"Ben spends most of his nights over here anyway." She shrugged. "And I can't imagine Edward living on his own if he lost his memory. Fuck...how scary is that. You didn't tell me he was English by the way. His accent is sexy. No wonder you kept him hidden. Where did he live before?"

"Errr...down town Seattle," I mumbled. "But please, don't ask him. He gets very agitated when he's asked questions...I don't think he's accepted that he has amnesia." I turned my eyes to the window then. "He's stubborn." And though I made it sound like I was annoyed about that, secretly, I rejoiced in it. Even as a Gargoyle Edward had a rebellious quality about him, and it comforted me that certain things followed him across the threshold.

I snatched at any shred of hope I could, because no matter what Aro or anybody else said, I knew Edward. He never fit the mould. He was untamed, uncharacteristic and proved the modus operandi wrong. And as long as he still showed signs of that, I was sure that not even amnesia could hold him captive.

"Soooo, that's Edward," Angela said, matching my stride. "And he really can't ….I mean...he doesn't remember you...like..at _all_?"

"At all."

"How are you coping with that?" She asked. After looking at her and seeing the pitying look in her eyes, that look that reminded me of the swarming expressions around me after my parents had died, when everyone thought I had gone crazy and started talking about strange angels with wings...I had to have a drink. I stalked across to the kitchen cabinet and flew into a rage when there were no bottles inside. I only had to shoot Angela one disparaging look before she was trying to explain.

"So like I said...Ben has been sleeping over a lot while you were gone. And uh...we had company most nights...they drank. Hey! You weren't around! I didn't even know that you were coming back."

"I was gone for three weeks, Angela," I bit out, slamming the cabinet door shut and glanced at the window again. I could see his outline moving back and forth by the window, pacing the length of the porch the way I was pacing on the inside. Blade hadn't moved from the welcome mat by the door. He sat there, erect, with his back rigid and his ears perked; training his every sense on the stalking ex-Gargoyle outside.

"Why do you think he doesn't want to come inside?" Angela asked.

"Because he's afraid."

"Of what?"

"Every new thing or place is something new for him to take on; another reminder of the things he can't remember," I answered, surprising myself with how much I was able to grasp about his behaviour in just one week. "He's a mess of nerves all the time; agitated and angry. And when he's not like that he's sleeping because he's exhausted from thinking so much and from focusing on everything so constantly."

"Shoot."

"He's like an adult newborn," I said, staring at his moving silhouette through the window. "He's going to have to learn everything all over again."

But really, the truth was, he'd be learning most of it for the first time. Edward didn't know the world around him not because of his amnesia, but because the last time he was human was in 1809. And the reason he felt like his natural instincts didn't respond to his environment was because they still operated in the 1800's. He had no idea how dead on target he was when he said his instincts were obsolete. And already I had the sense that he was exceptionally intelligent. It was almost as if he could sense that something wasn't right...besides the obvious, of course.

Even as he made laps out there I knew he was trying to piece the puzzle together...trying to remember and trying to figure out the meaning behind the peculiar halo of his existence.

"He won't last much longer," I said, with a sigh. "He's exhausting himself and he's on pain meds. He'll need to pass out soon...fuck..."

"What."

"Pass out...where?"

Angela raised her eyebrows at me, then shook her head. "Don't look at me."

"He's not going to want to sleep in the same bed as me...he hardly knows who I am. In the hospital he wouldn't even let me stay in the room while he got his sponge baths."

"I'd say you have a problem then," Angela said. "And he's too tall for our couch."

I shifted my eyes to the couch. "You're right. Guess I'll take the couch then."

Two seconds later there was a knock at the door. Blade jumped to his feet and let out a sharp bark and Angela rolled her eyes. "You'd swear that dog has no social life."

"He doesn't, he's a dog."

When Angela opened the door and Edward came into view I saw the worn look on his face immediately. He needed rest. Pacing and working up himself like he was couldn't have been good for his body.

"Come in," I said, walking toward him. He stepped inside then did something that literally screeched my heart to a halt. When he walked in he quite absently rested his hand on top of Blade's head, calming Blade on contact. And I knew it was an absent minded gesture because he didn't look down at Blade. His eyes were taking in the inside of my apartment in slow appraisal. It was almost as if that motion came naturally to him and it made every strand of hair on my body stand. I squinted slightly, suddenly wondering if his instincts were obsolete after all.

"This way," I said to him, biting pensively on my bottom lip as I walked toward my bedroom. Angela hurried to my side and whispered in my ear.

"I have some of Ben's clothes if you want? He's not as tall as Edward, but it should do until he goes back to his place to get his own stuff."

_His place, which probably didn't exist,_ I thought. I doubted there were any clothes for Edward to go back to in Seattle. I would have to buy him new ones. I missed his long black cloak already. The clothes he wore at the moment were the ones from his "crash" and the ones Aro would have put him in before he regained consciousness. There were even small blood stains on it.

"Thanks Angel," I said quickly, leading the way for Edward. "The bathroom is in there," I said to him over my shoulder, pointing to the small door in the hall. "That's Angela's room over there and this is my room. You can sleep in here."

I could hear Blade's paws clicking on the floor behind me, shadowing Edward's every move. When we walked into my bedroom Edward did the same thing he did when he walked into the house; he passed his eyes over everything in quiet assessment. And yes, his hand found the top of Blade's head again.

"Have I been in here before?" He asked.

"No," I said.

"No?" He asked incredulously with raised eyebrows.

"Well," I faltered. "You visited my apartment about two or three times, but we never stayed. We always went out...or..um...to your place."

He continued to frown. "My _place_?"

Right...I had to keep reminding myself that there were certain word meanings that wouldn't make sense to him. I had a lot of research to do. Apparently people didn't use the word "place" when referring to someone's home in the 1800's? I wasn't sure.

"Your...residence?" I tried.

"Okay. What's his name?" He asked, looking down at Blade while stroking the fur on his head.

"Blade," I answered. "You don't remember?"

Edward's eyes shot up at me then and I saw the way his expression closed in on itself and grew dark.

"No," was all he said.

"I only asked because Angela and I said his name earlier when he jumped on you..." I came back, panicking slightly. "I didn't mean to...I'm sorry."

"It's ok," he said, sensing my panic. I was sure my eyes had become two orbs of anxiety. Just then Angela poked her head into the room.

"Knock knock," she said, walking in with more clothes than were necessary. She ended up dropping a sock on the floor then skidding when she stepped on it.

"FUCK!" She squealed, wobbling back into balance. I ran to her and helped by grabbing the lot of clothes from her arms.

"Thanks Angel," I gasped. "Are these ALL Ben's clothes or something?"

"Well I didn't know what he'd like," she whispered, gesturing to Edward with her head.

With an endearing smile I nodded. "I hardly think that's his concern right now, but thanks."

"Ben just called. He's curious about Edward and wants to come over."

"I don't think that's a..."

"I know," she cut me off. "I'm heading out to meet him now, try to distract him a bit. See you later."

"Okay."

"It was nice meeting you Edward," she said with a small wave. "See you in the morning."

"Good night," Edward said, standing awkwardly in the room.

The moment Angela disappeared he looked at me and asked, "what does fuck mean?"

And I dropped every piece of clothing in my arms. Why I should react that way I didn't know, but the question was as unexpected as his amnesia. I didn't see it coming. And now I had to explain the meaning of "fuck."

"It's uh...like a cuss word."

"Cuss..."

"Curse? Uh...oh! Obscene language!" There I was getting excited by my success in finding alternative words for him.

He dropped his voice then and glanced at the door. "Obscene, like...belly? Or leg?"

"Huh?" I responded, arching an eyebrow at him. "Why in heaven's name would belly or leg be..." And for the second time that evening, my heart screeched to a dead stop. It hit me like a massive ton of bricks; the very first sign of him reconnecting to his human past.

"Edward..." I gasped, covering the space between us to grab him by his wrists. "I think you just connected to something in your past!"

And then I slapped my mouth shut quickly with my hands and gulped. Was that a slip? Aro's letter had said that his human memories would start filtering back to him, but that it was better to make him think they were only dreams since they were from another time. All they would do was confuse and frustrate him. Edward was staring directly at me, his thick dark brows pulled together in concentration. But not for nothing did he actually _see _me. His stare bore straight through to the back of my head but I could tell that he was lost in his own mind, reaching for the crumb that I had just thrown him unintentionally.

After a few seconds of staring at me like that, he clenched down harshly on his jaw and turned away, pushing a sharp breath of air from his lungs. I could see the aggravation rise off his back like steam over boiling water.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to his back, feeling foolish for getting carried away so quickly. I walked around him and bent to pick the clothes off the floor. I put them on the bed and opened my cupboard to fetch him a towel. "Here."

I was so unsure of everything. I had absolutely no idea what objects they used in the 1800's, how far his instincts reached or what he would be able to grasp as far as everyday objects went.

"It's a towel," I said cautiously, avoiding eye contact with him.

"I know," he said. "Thank you."

"Ok, well. You probably want to bathe and sleep. Um...if you get hungry, feel free to go to the kitchen and help yourself. I'll just be in the sitting room..."

Not knowing what else to say, I turned to leave.

"Bella?" He said softly.

"Yes?"

The harshness in his face melted away then and something a lot more like gentleness touched his eyes. "I might need your help."

"With?" I asked, as daft as a brush.

"With getting out of and into my clothes. It still hurts a lot to raise my arms."

Could a person's heart stop beating so often in one day? Because surely even my pulse stopped when I realised what he was asking.

"Yes, of...yes...sure...I can...yah."

Like a corpse on two stilts for legs, I took two crotchety steps forward.

"Is this too embarrassing for you?" He asked.

"Not at all," I came back quickly, hobbling forward a little more. Then I stupidly added. "I've seen it all before."

"Have you now?" He asked, tightening that godforsaken knot in stomach. He even looked mildly surprised at the notion of me knowing what he looked like naked. Hell,_ he_ probably didn't even know what he looked like naked.

"Well...yeah," I uttered. "We _are_...engaged...aren't we?"

His eyes were flashing back and forth between mine like balls on fire and the silence between our pauses developed a shrill, distant shrieking sound.

"I don't know Bella," he said, huskily. "You have to tell me."

After another heavy silence and two more steps toward him I blinked and dared to be brave. "Then yes, Edward. Yes we are engaged and yes...I have seen you naked, many times, and we have been together, _together_...many times."

His breathing grew heavier, making his chest swell and contract magnanimously. When I was close enough to feel his breath on my face I stopped and he shot me down a notch by taking a small step backward.

"It's overwhelming," he grunted, enabling the shadow of doubt to veil his features again. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to offend you, but..."

"Edward I understand," I said quickly, cutting him off mid sentence. "You don't have to explain."

"Perhaps," he continued, "...perhaps my heart still loves you, but, it just can't remember. Perhaps one day it will."

"Then until that day. I will wait."

I saw something like pain creep into his eyes and he swallowed self consciously before shifting his eyes away from mine.

"Come," I said. "Let's get you undressed. Will you need help in the shower as well?"

"I think I'll be able to manage. Thank you."

He unbuttoned his pants then, lowered the zipper and I helped him by dragging them down to his ankles. For his benefit only I kept my eyes averted from the place I most wanted to observe and decided to busy myself after that with choosing an outfit for him to sleep in. He chose to stay in his underwear, which I noticed briefly, were boxer briefs.

"Sit on the bed," I suggested. He sat and started undoing the buttons on the front of his shirt. His coat was open over his shirt, and once he was done unbuttoning I very gently peeled the coat down over his arms, one at a time. He winced slightly when he had to move his arms backward, so I made sure I was quick about it. Taking off his shirt was easier because the fabric was thinner but for all that distraction was worth I couldn't ignore the way my thigh brushed against his as I moved. A soft friction developed between his bare skin and my jeans and I cursed myself for not being in shorts right then.

He cooperated with small movements, even glanced at me a few times from the corner of his eyes. I threw the shirt on the bed and observed his white "under tee". That one would be harder because it had to be passed over his head.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"Just do it," he said, lifting his arms partially. I took his tee by the hem relishing in the brief contact of skin to skin as the tips of my fingers, then my knuckles, grazed against his sides. I heard his sharp intake of air as he pushed his arms up higher and watched as he bit down on his lip. He closed his eyes, flinched then raised his arms slowly overhead. As gently as I could manage, I slid the tee over and away from him. Needing any reason to touch him, I held his forearms and guided his arms down again.

"Thank you," he said, as if a great feat had just been accomplished.

His body was every bit the same as I remembered. His shoulders were the same width, curved by the same amount of muscle. His hairless chest tapered down to his wait in the same V shape. And the light ripple of muscle on his stomach flattened out into a smaller V, the bottom of which disappeared into his underwear. The only difference I could record was the human flush of his skin.

When I realized I was staring at the bulge between his thighs I snapped my head upward and let out a mousy squeak. The only thing to drive me impossibly madder in that moment was him resting his hands on my hips to guide me backward so that he could stand in front of me.

"Thank you," he said again and relinquished our connection by removing his hands to take his towel. When he turned and bent to get it off the bed I saw for the first time, the scars on his back. I had to clutch my throat to prevent another squeak from escaping when I saw them. Just where the roots of his wings used to be were two long, uneven scars, obviously stitched up, but still not completely healed.

Instinctively, I reached out with both hands and touched them, all sorts of anxiety awakening in me. He jumped slightly when he felt my hands and turned around to face me.

"Sorry," I choked out, unable to hide my disappointment that his breathtaking wings were now only scars on his back. They were deep and prominent and identical to each other in shape and size.

"Why are you so upset?" He asked, genuinely. "They're just cuts from the accident. They're almost healed. Dr. Young stitched them up perfectly. She even showed me with a mirror."

I swallowed a massive lump and cleared my throat. "Right. It's just that I only just saw them for the first time."

"Ok then. Excuse me," he said, with a small nod. He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked away.

"Your room mate..." He paused by the door.

"Is not here," I finished for him. "The coast is clear."

He crinkled his forehead at the phrase and left. And of course, Blade followed him out.

"Idiot." I scolded myself once I was alone, slapping my forehead dramatically. I couldn't believe how awkward I felt around him. I actually had huge swarms of butterflies attacking me on the insides, as if the victim of a school girl crush. As deeply as I loved him, it felt like I was starting all over again with Edward; like we were strangers getting acquainted with each other for the first time. I was unsure of myself, unsure of _him_, insecure, nervous, agitated and anxious. The flush of blood that rushed to my cheeks whenever he smiled at me and the need to scold myself whenever I did or said something stupid were all stages I had gone through with him before...and conquered. Yet, here we were again.

With a heavy sigh I threw myself onto the bed, intending to lay there until he returned, when a phone started to ring. I raised my head, perplexed by the strange sound. It wasn't my phone. In fact, my phone had been discharged forever it seemed. I scrambled through the clothes on the bed, following the sound and realised it was coming from Edward's coat. I grabbed the coat and found the phone in his pocket. It was the cell Dr. Young handed over in the envelope. I had put it in his coat pocket unbeknownst to him before we left the hospital.

"Hello?" I answered in bewilderment, wondering who could possibly be calling Edward's cell.

When I heard the voice I almost tumbled off the bed.

"Bella, come to kitchen door quickly," Alice instructed.

"Oh my God, Alice!" I shrieked.

"Hurry up, Bella. Come now."

I threw the phone on the bed and dashed for the door, observing the closed bathroom door as I ran past. Blade was there before me, scraping at the door like a lunatic and yelping in excitement as if a roasted pig was waiting for his chops in the back yard.

I pulled the door open and sure enough Alice was there, looking like a regal goddess cloaked in mystical black. Without another thought I flung myself into her arms and squealed in delight, but she wasted no time in settling me. She hugged me briefly but put distance between us by gently pushing me off. Then she touched Blade's head and simmered him down.

"Bella, you're in trouble," she said. "Again."

"Huh?" I replied, scruching my face. "What are you talking about? I'm fine. Edward is here."

"Where's your Selenite?" She asked, running her eyes over my body. I touched my neck absently and shook my head.

"I can't remember."

She then pulled something on a link out of her pocket and handed it to me.

"Take this. Put it on now."

Suddenly nervous, I took it from her and strapped it around my neck, making sure to tuck it inside my blouse.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I'm not supposed to be here, but I had to come to you myself and warn you."

"Alice...tell me."

"Word has spread throughout the Legion about you and Edward and there are some that are unhappy, furious actually, about Aro's leniency with you."

"Leniency?" I laughed mockingly. "Ha! Forgetward is currently taking a bath. You call that lenient?"

"Bella," she said. "You are the only mortal right now in the world, outside of the Vatican Council that know our secret. We have learned of some Gargoyles and entire hosts that won't accept it. They are nervous Bella. They feel threatened and they want you captured and brought before Aro for a re-trial."

"What?" I gasped

"They are adamant and prepared to take it into their own hands if they have to and face the consequences after ward, just to deal with you themselves. For the sake of protecting the Legion they will stand up against Aro in a unified front if he refuses to give in. And Aro does not respond graciously to demands."

"But, I'm only one girl," I spat out. "What the hell do they think I am capable of? I can't bring down an entire Legion of Gargoyles by myself!"

"Shush!"

"Sorry!"

"Bella, _we_ trust you because we know you. But you have to remember, there are thousands of us out there."

"Thouands?"

"Tens of thousands actually. And one human can do more damage than you can imagine. Word spreads easily and all it takes is a mistake, one slip for it to spread like wild fire and catch the wrong person's attention. In any event, the others are not willing to take that chance. The rule states that no human is allowed knowledge of us and right now you are a contradiction to that rule."

"So what's going to happen?"

"The only thing we can do is wait until there is word from Aro about whether or not he agrees to respond to their concerns. Until then, we will protect you and stand guard every night, in case any army tries to step out of line and some after you prematurely."

"Army? What the _fuck,_ Alice!"

"This is very serious. Beware of how easy it is to slip with your tongue, Bella. Already I can tell that your excitement with Edward tonight when you thought he was making a connection to his past made your tongue light."

I knew what she was talking about; the part where I realised he was possibly remembering something from his human past when he referred to "belly" and "leg" as obscene words.

"That was only one time," I defended myself. "And I didn't slip. I stopped myself."

"But he's only been here for a few hours," she pointed out. "What will happen when things start coming back to him faster and more vividly? You have to be aware of yourself at all times. You cannot under _any_ circumstance make a comment that will reach eavesdropping ears. Because even if your mistakes make no sense to Edward, Bella, it will work against you and incense those who are looking for a reason to harm you."

"You can't be serious about this," I said, running my shaking fingers agitatedly through my hair. "This is like the nightmare I can't wake up from."

"_You_ wanted to run with Gargoyles, Bella?" she said, pointedly. "Welcome to our world."

"Will you be here every night?" I asked, needing the reassurance of her presence.

"Yes, but you are to act as if we are not here. Don't come looking for us."

"Who else?"

"All of us, but we are only seven. We will be outnumbered if enough of them take the challenge."

I was both excited and terrified at the same time. My pulse pounded in my neck, in my head, in my chest and a swirl of nausea started ripping at the back of my throat.

"On my roof?" I asked, worriedly.

"Nearby. You won't know where we are, or you'll be tempted to visit. I know you."

She took something else out of her pocket and held it out to me.

"This one is for Edward," she said. I took the chain link from her hand and closed my fingers around the cold stone. "Say it's a gift. Make up some kind of story about it, but make sure he wears it and doesn't take it off."

"He's as stubborn as a mule," I answered, shaking my head downward. "I can tell already. He won't make this easy for me."

"No one ever promised it would be easy. Good bye, Bella and please be careful."

I heard a faint gust of wind then but by the time I looked up from my closed, Selenite filled fist, she was nothing but a memory. My plate had finally spilled over. Not only did Edward have amnesia, but I was once again in danger. I was once again at the mercy of a world I loved more than the one to which I belonged; a supernatural world which continued to reject me the more I fell in love with it.

**THE END**

**A/N:** The Sequel is now posted on my profile. It is called _**In Darkness or Light**_. Please continue onward and enjoy.

Note: For those of you who wondered. The words "belly" and "leg" were actually considered obscene or taboo in the 1800's. At one point the word belly was taken out of the Bible completely because of that, and people used the word "limb" to refer to a person's leg, avoiding the word completely. I laughed so hard when I read that.

"Pregnant" was also an obscene/taboo word, as were the words "rape" and "virgin", which were never used in movies or publicly. Interesting isn't it? That's where our Stoneward came from. Now he is...Forgetfulward.


	22. TEASER for Set in Stone Sequel

**Author's note:** Hello again. Here is the first teaser for the SET IN STONE Sequel: _In Darkness or Light_. Thank you for your patience with the sequel! You have been great. In Darkness or Light is set for release on August 25th, 2010.

Like I said, this is the FIRST teaser. It is a poem. An actual excerpt from the Prologue will be posted next week around this time as well. So stay tuned :o)

I'd like to thank my new beta, fiftylover, for doing a wonderful job, and for being everything a beta should be. And Nikkiwindland for her impeccable vision and excellent work on my new blog. When it is finished I will put the link up for you guys to see.

I also want to thank Tkegl for designing the banner for this story. She did the one for Set in Stone too, and this one is even more perfect than the last. I have a lot of talented folks in my pocket *wink *

Weekly teasers will be available on the blog once it is out, and I intend to update every Wednesday once the story comes out. I have been a busy girl..lol.

Happy Reading...

**My Gargoyle**

What curse was put upon you, O creature of the night

to bless you with such beauty, then cage your spirit tight?

What hand would carve such perfect lines, which crack under the sun

Or planes as smooth as marble, which wait to come undone.

No strength that seems immortal, means to welt so easily,

Or power like the raging sea, which poured right out from thee.

Monstrosity of stone, made and perched to stand alone,

With angel wings and snarly face, and secrets left untold.

The wisdom in your eyes that died the more they stood to light,

could stand the test of time despite the stripping of your might.

The darkness was your haven, Your tears they turned to dust,

And nothing so compelling ever earned the name of lust.

What measure of unkindness makes your spirit now unknown?

Gives life, but binds your memories, no longer Set in Stone.

The whisper of your spirit, It still lingers on the night,

My love will hold you anywhere, In Darkness or in Light...

- by: **Psyche001**

**A/N**: I hope you liked it. Please leave comments. Much love, Psyche.


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